{"id":3922,"date":"2011-12-21T17:26:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T17:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adrianswinscoe.com\/blog\/?p=3922"},"modified":"2011-12-21T17:26:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-21T17:26:00","slug":"customer-focus-in-action-why-zara-stores-became-a-customer-magnet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianswinscoe.com\/2011\/12\/customer-focus-in-action-why-zara-stores-became-a-customer-magnet\/","title":{"rendered":"Customer Focus in Action: Why ZARA Stores Became a Customer Magnet"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Why ZARA Stores Became a Customer Magnet<\/span><\/p>\n

How they changed the definition of success in fashion retailing. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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By understanding what motivates its \u201cfashionista\u201d customers, Zara has changed the definition of success in fashion retail. Customers make an average 17 annual store visits, compared to 4 visits for other retailers. The Zara \u201chabit\u201d that keeps customers coming through their door results in more products sold at full retail: nearly 85 percent of Zara\u2019s inventory sells at full price, compared to a retail average of 40 percent. Most important, because customers are Zara\u2019s sales force, advertising is hardly necessary\u2014it\u2019s a mere 0.3 percent of sales, compared to competitors\u2019 3 to 4 percent. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Pulling Customers Back into the Stores with \u201cFast Fashion\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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ZARA wants to get a product from inception to market\u2014inside a store on a rack and available to their zealot customers\u2014within 15 days. This speedy process for bringing in product and changing out inventory creates an on-purpose product extinction cycle, and a compelling draw for customers to constantly visit Zara stores. \u201cFast Fashion\u201d is Zara\u2019s customer magnet. It brings customers into stores to see what is new, what they must not miss, and what they must own before it\u2019s gone forever. Speed of fashion for Zara also means having an agility for listening to and responding to customer requests in the marketplace. Inditex, Zara\u2019s parent company, says that an item requested by enough customers can be in their stores to accommodate that request within ten days.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Zara\u2019s understanding of customers drives its decisions for how it designs, produces product, and stocks its stores. Zara works to appeal to the emotional desire of \u201cfashionistas\u201d to be one of the first and one of the few to own a particular item of clothing. This emotional desire pulls customers back into the stores; it is their magnet for customer repurchasing. To constantly earn this devotion, Zara\u2019s \u201cFast Fashion\u201d operation integrates design, manufacturing, and distribution, all managed from their headquarters outside La Coruna, Spain. To create exclusivity, they produce small batches of each style. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Three hundred designers work to create the continuous stream of new looks in their stores, resulting in 20,000 new designs a year. Zara wants customers coming back into their stores, where they will always find new products, in limited quantities. This is how Zara creates urgency to buy now. The blue blouse she loves today may be gone tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s Your Customer Magnet? <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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How much do you know about your customers\u2019 lives and what makes them tick? What\u2019s your version of \u201cfast fashion\u201d for your customers?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Do You Know Your Customers?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Zara works to appeal to \u201cfashionista\u201d customers motivated by the \u201chunt.\u201d They produce small batches to create exclusivity and turn over product rapidly. Customers swarm to stores to see what is new and what they must not miss.<\/span><\/p>\n

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