Retailing and Supply Chain
1. What are the ways that Inditex ensures that “fast fashion” is truly fast?
Inditex ensures that its fashion is fast through its supply chain efforts. They have created new methods to enable store managers to order and display merchandise faster and added cargo routes for shipping goods. The company ships clothing straight from the factory to stores and makes two-thirds of its goods in Spain and nearby countries, compared to most competitors who manufacture most of their clothing in Asia. Inditex has their sales managers monitoring computers, which are reporting sales at every store around the world. When a garment does well or fails, they are able to quickly tell designers if they need to come up with new ideas. They also have generated in house store fronts where they develop new marketing promotions every two weeks and can send pictures and decoration plans to their stores to replicate. Also, they have provided hand-help computers for sales clerks that inform them how garments rank by sales. This enables them to re-order best selling items in less than an hour. Inditex combined various brands into larger volumes of shipments so that they can have air shipments into their stores twice a week. 2. What are the important attributes of a “fast fashion” retailer to customers? To store managers?
The important “fast fashion” attributes to the customer is that the retailer is providing the latest fashion to them as soon as it comes out. They want to make sure that they are getting the latest trends first and that they are not buying out dated clothing. It is also important to the customer that the retailer has what they are looking for when they come. They do not want the retailer to be out of stock every time they come in. If they are out of stock, the attribute of having their suppliers close to the retailers means that they would be able to re-stock their merchandise fairly quick.
As for the store managers, for them important attributes would be things like
Inditex ensures that its fashion is fast through its supply chain efforts. They have created new methods to enable store managers to order and display merchandise faster and added cargo routes for shipping goods. The company ships clothing straight from the factory to stores and makes two-thirds of its goods in Spain and nearby countries, compared to most competitors who manufacture most of their clothing in Asia. Inditex has their sales managers monitoring computers, which are reporting sales at every store around the world. When a garment does well or fails, they are able to quickly tell designers if they need to come up with new ideas. They also have generated in house store fronts where they develop new marketing promotions every two weeks and can send pictures and decoration plans to their stores to replicate. Also, they have provided hand-help computers for sales clerks that inform them how garments rank by sales. This enables them to re-order best selling items in less than an hour. Inditex combined various brands into larger volumes of shipments so that they can have air shipments into their stores twice a week. 2. What are the important attributes of a “fast fashion” retailer to customers? To store managers?
The important “fast fashion” attributes to the customer is that the retailer is providing the latest fashion to them as soon as it comes out. They want to make sure that they are getting the latest trends first and that they are not buying out dated clothing. It is also important to the customer that the retailer has what they are looking for when they come. They do not want the retailer to be out of stock every time they come in. If they are out of stock, the attribute of having their suppliers close to the retailers means that they would be able to re-stock their merchandise fairly quick.
As for the store managers, for them important attributes would be things like