Perhaps youve seen a Zara retail store at your local shopping mall, or noticed one while strolling along a downtown street. Have you ever gone inside and examined their merchandise closely? There is something different about Zara clothing which sets it apart from the products being sold at rival chain stores. It might not be evident when you first set foot in the store, but shopping at Zara is a unique experience.
Zara is a retail chain which started several years ago in Spain. Zara clothing is designed to look like high-end designer clothing, although at an affordable price. What sets Zara clothing apart from its competitors, though is the business model used by the company which owns all the Zara stores.
Unlike most clothing retail chains, which take up to six months to bring a new item from design concept to store shelves, Zara boasts a two week turnaround time. In other words, when Zara clothing designers see a high fashion look on the catwalk, or an intriguing style on the street, they can have it on the hangers, ready for you to purchase, in just two weeks. What that means for you, the customer, is affordable, well-made and fashionable clothing that keeps up with the most recent fashion trends in real time.
While that alone is enough to set Zara apart from its competitors, there are also other reasons to appreciate the way Zara clothing is made. For example, unlike most retail chains, Zara is almost entirely vertically integrated. That means they produce their own merchandise, instead of outsourcing all the work to Asia or South America. So you can be sure that Zara clothing is not made in sweatshops under questionable conditions. It also means that Zara can be very responsive to customer needs and preferences. Zara clothing offers a much wider variety than most retail clothing chains can possibly match, with thousands of more styles and looks. If an item is not selling well, the company can modify it or replace it with a better item within a matter of weeks.
What this means for you as a customer is that every visit to a Zara store is different from the last one. Instead of carrying one line of items each season, with essentially no change, Zara stores are constantly receiving new products. So every time you enter the store, you will find something new. It also means that when you wear an item of Zara clothing, it retains a distinctive flair. All your friends will not necessarily have seen it hanging on the racks or decorating a mannequin in a store window; the stock in Zara stores changes so often, that even people who shop there regularly may not have seen that particular item at all.