Zara Target Market Analysis

1. In order to understand the success of Inditex’s best brand, Zara one has to understand their strategic choices, and at its core this revolves on having a good understanding of who Zara targets, and what makes this brand attractive.

Zara’s most important target market can be understood by the use of demographics, they target young (18-40 year old) women, who are price-conscious with a mid-range income, and very sensitive to fashion trends. However Zara benefits from the fact that compared to over more traditional retailer they do not stick only to age segmenting, and lifestyle, which allows them to reach to a much broader market. Using psychographic segmentation, they also target women with a so described “hectic” lifestyle, implying a busy,

Historically most of the production sites were found in Spain, Portugal and Morocco amongst other European countries. (Ferdows & co. 2014 p9), of which 11 were owned by Zara, and located near the headquarters. With the growing developments of the brand, Zara slowly started to develop close relationships with many competent suppliers at a world scale. Their suppliers mostly work single-or double shifts, and are managed as profit centers would be. (Ferdows & co. 2014 p8) Zara also works hand in hand with over 1600 worldwide suppliers (a third from Eastern Europe, i.e. Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, and the rest from Asia.) Those suppliers appear to have an essential role, and therefore be of extreme importance in preserving the very flexible, and fast supply chain. Most supplier prefer working with Zara, as they are a stable provider of considerate orders. Mr. Alvarez highlighted the importance of trust, and understanding between supplier and Zara, he explained that Zara tries to remain loyal to its supplier as long as good products are delivered, and timing is respected. Those relationships could thus be described as trust-based, and

On the other hand the fact that Zara produces the remaining 40% internally, is a strong asset, providing better control, and short lead-times. Finally the fact that Zara owns 450 workshops were garments are to be sewed is a major asset ensuring quality. Another important asset in terms of production, is the technologies involved, for instance the cutting machines, to minimize waste (Ferdows & co. 2014 p9), used in combination with the last-final hand-made sewing. The ease of the connection between the production center and the distribution center is also an important time-saver element, and therefore