Zara's Fast Fashion
Zara’s Fast Fashion
ANP
LIM College – MBA Program
Absrtact This paper was written for the purpose of researching and illustrating fast fashion strategies which include strategic integrated supply chain, manufacturing and sourcing methods. Fast fashion is explained as a system that involves more control over operations and customer “strategic behavior” by using the combined benefits of both the “quick response production capabilities” or “short production and distribution lead times”, which minimizes clearance items by finding more reasonable balances between supply and demand, and the “enhanced product design capabilities” or “highly fashionable product designs”, which plays homage to customer values. This paper also analyzes methods used by fast fashion leader, the Spanish, Inditex owned Zara. A closer look at Zara’s supply chain, market responsiveness, flexibility, technology, pricing and costs strategies and methods are examined and compared to other fast fashion retailers that can appropriately be deemed as competition for Zara. Also, globalization and other operational strategies are discussed that all come together to show the remarkable success of the Spanish company.
Zara’s Fast Fashion
Fast Fashion When thinking of the term fast fashion, one may think of the change in fashion trends and how quickly certain styles can be deemed as in, and the next second, those same styles are no longer looked at as having any resemblance of being fashionable. That would be the definition of a trend or fad in itself; “an intense but short-lived fashion; craze” (Dictionary.com 2012) . However, “the phrase ‘fast fashion’ refers to low-cost clothing collections that mimic current luxury fashion trends” (Joy, Sherry, Venkatesh, Wang, & Chan, 2012) . It is a system that enables young, trendy customers to quickly attain and keep up with the ever changing latest fashions and trends from the runway, celebrity styles and other trendy inspirations for
ANP
LIM College – MBA Program
Absrtact This paper was written for the purpose of researching and illustrating fast fashion strategies which include strategic integrated supply chain, manufacturing and sourcing methods. Fast fashion is explained as a system that involves more control over operations and customer “strategic behavior” by using the combined benefits of both the “quick response production capabilities” or “short production and distribution lead times”, which minimizes clearance items by finding more reasonable balances between supply and demand, and the “enhanced product design capabilities” or “highly fashionable product designs”, which plays homage to customer values. This paper also analyzes methods used by fast fashion leader, the Spanish, Inditex owned Zara. A closer look at Zara’s supply chain, market responsiveness, flexibility, technology, pricing and costs strategies and methods are examined and compared to other fast fashion retailers that can appropriately be deemed as competition for Zara. Also, globalization and other operational strategies are discussed that all come together to show the remarkable success of the Spanish company.
Zara’s Fast Fashion
Fast Fashion When thinking of the term fast fashion, one may think of the change in fashion trends and how quickly certain styles can be deemed as in, and the next second, those same styles are no longer looked at as having any resemblance of being fashionable. That would be the definition of a trend or fad in itself; “an intense but short-lived fashion; craze” (Dictionary.com 2012) . However, “the phrase ‘fast fashion’ refers to low-cost clothing collections that mimic current luxury fashion trends” (Joy, Sherry, Venkatesh, Wang, & Chan, 2012) . It is a system that enables young, trendy customers to quickly attain and keep up with the ever changing latest fashions and trends from the runway, celebrity styles and other trendy inspirations for
References: Capell, K. (2008). Zara Thrives By Breaking All the Rules. Businessweek, (4104), 066. Cachon, G. P., & Swinney, R. (2011). The Value of Fast Fashion: Quick Response, Enhanced Design, and Strategic Consumer Behavior. Management Science, 57(4), 778-795. Desai, A., Nassar, N., & Chertow, M. (2012). American Seams: An Exploration of Hybrid Fast Fashion and Domestic Manufacturing Models in Relocalised Apparel Production. Journal Of Corporate Citizenship, (45), 53-78. Dictionary.com. (2012). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fad Ferdows, K., Lewis, M.A., Machuca, J.A.D Inditex. (2012). Investors. Retrieved from http://www.inditex.com/en Joy, A., Sherry Jr, J.F., Venkatesh, A., Wang, J., & Chan, R Meredith, J.R., & Shafer, S. M., (2010). Operations management for mbas, 4. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mihm, B., (2010). Fast fashion in a flat world: Global Sourcing Strategies. International Business & Economics Research Journal, 9(6), 55-63 Speer, J Zara. (2012). Investors. Retrieved from http://www.zara.com