The Zara Method

Have you ever walked into a clothing store and felt completely overwhelmed? The sheer multitude of heaps of scattered items suffocates people. The managers tuck last season’s line into the back of the store with bright red “clearance” stickers all over. How a person picks ever an outfit through this mess amazes me.

Up and coming clothing giant, Zara, approaches clothing sales in a different way. Zara almost never advertises or puts their clothing on sale. Items in stock stay on shelves for half the time of a normal store. How do they do it, you ask? Zara’s technology-enabled business strategy has allowed the company’s revenues to skyrocket and made the company the world’s largest fashion retailer. Through its use of handy technology and point of sale transaction processes, Zara edges ahead of its competitors.

The first line of technology defense Zara’s sales associates use is called a personal digital assistant (PDA device). As customers try on clothes, Zara’s staff asks them ongoing questions. Would you prefer this skirt in blue? What if the length was shorter? Immediately, the staff enters the customer input information into their PDAs. This data collects from every Zara store. The customer input helps determine what Zara’s designers will create next. The beauty in this situation simply becomes that customers get what they want!

Zara also collects data through a point of sale system (POS). This transaction process immediately records a customer’s purchase information. This information ranks clothing items by popularity and sale results. The main questions of all clothing retailers, who is buying what and where are they buying it, becomes clear. Zara uses this data to plan ahead for new styles or send more inventories to existing stores.

Simple technology such as this launched Zara into fame. By simply connecting the customer’s wants with the company’s business strategy, Zara satisfies millions of shoppers a year. Every clothing retailer could learn a lesson from doing business by the Zara method.

Have you ever shopped at Zara? Leave me a comment!