Zara

32.2+ million followers on Instagram

Origin: From La Coruña, Spain, to Worldwide distribution

Influencer Sharron,@arrayoffaces on Instagram sharing her Zara outfit. See post here.

La Coruña is a small city in Spain with high levels of unemployment but it is home of the world third richest man, Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara. The company started under the name of Zara but grew into Inditex, carrying eight brands including the biggest and oldest, Zara. Zara is known for its popularly known as one of the largest “fast fashion” retailers, due to its large distribution of stylish clothes similar to high end designs but made with affordable materials and sold at affordable prices in large quantities. Zara opened its first store in 1975 and later in 1985, Inditex was created.

Manufacturing occurs in external companies in Europe and Northern Africa.
More than 840 million clothing items made every year.
More than 5,900 stores in 85 countries around the world.
About 500 stores open every year.

Read more at the New York Times article, How Zara Grew Into the World’s Largest Fashion Retailer

Amancio Ortega – Retired Zara’s CEO and Founder

Technology use: Using Data Analytics to target customers’ needs

By Analytics India Magazine

Track sales through products’ tags
Use of Big Data to get customers feedback from online platforms
Allows for Quick Replenishment Cycle in stores

Zara like other fast fashion brands gets this customer data used for Data Analytics through their social media platforms and their website. This allows them to stay ahead of trends and their competition.

Social Media allows customers to share their stylish looks and spread the word about Zara’s new collections or items. Zara’s marketing strategy relies on store placing on the the most trafficked streets and avenues, close to luxury brands stores, like the Fifth Avenue in New York City. Also, their store decoration matters to give customers a high end feeling when they shop in their stores. Zara and its mother company, Inditex, don’t invest on print marketing campaigns, prestigious models, or billboard advertising. They focus on having a strong social media presence with collaborative advertising from its customers and influencers on instagram through hashtags and tags, and big data analysis of their customers online activity, comments, likes, posts, and purchases.