ABSTRACT
Inditex is regarded as in international phenomenon in the apparel industry.When a Zara store opened in the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong on 21 May 2004, it represented the group’s 2,000th store in its 50th country. By providing good value, design-led fashion clothing in a much reduced lead time, Zara has challenged many of the traditional ways of operating within the retail clothing sector. Inditex-Zara is an example of a firm that has harnessed communication technologies within a traditional supply chain to redefine how a retail sector works and to invert many of the accepted drivers in the channel. At virtually every stage in the channel the tasks, roles and responsibilities of actors and intermediaries have been altered as established business processes have been reconfigured to harness a demand-driven view of the channel. The Zara approach has epitomized what has become known as ‘fast fashion’, and reflects a view of retailing as an integrated commercial process rather than a channel activity. This approach has, to date, provided a source of competitive advantage that has allowed rapid retail internationalization and generated a financial performance (Table 4.1) that has been the envy of many of its established competitors. The figures for financial year 2003 show the first dip in what has otherwise been an unblemished record of growth.
