How ZARA Survives with Minimal Advertising
Yes, I know, you’ve probably seen their ads before on Instagram or online.
That’s promotional marketing and while it does fall under the category of advertisements, ZARA spends next to nothing on ads. While most retailers spend around 3.5% on ads, ZARA only spends 0.3%.
So how does ZARA spend so little, yet gain so much? The fashion industry giant listed under the Inditex Group was valued at $13 billion dollars as of 2018. It’s still growing by the way. And in terms of the number of outlets, Inditex comes out on top with 7300 retail outlets, with ZARA being close to 3000 of them.
To answer this question, we have to understand ZARA’s marketing strategy.
ZARA implements a ‘Fast Fashion’ marketing. Fast fashion is a strategy used by H&M, Urban Outfitters, ASOS, you name it. Their goal is to get new designs into stores every couple of weeks.
Fast fashion is all about being fast, not first. A lot of their products look like designer clothes — and some of them actually are. Rather than setting new trends, these brands analyze current hot trends and implement them into their own products. While fast fashion remains to be consistent from brand to brand, ZARA implements a modified strategy. And this slight ‘tweak’ is what allows ZARA to survive in this cutthroat industry without necessarily having to advertise.
- ZARA maintains a low level of stock inventory.
In the fashion industry, luxury is scarcity. Similarly, ZARA tries to maintain the relative scarcity of their brand. This means that ZARA, unlike most other fast fashion brands, will keep the stocks relatively low and attempt to sell off everything and have the least amount of discounts or sales as possible.
They also only manufacture what they know will sell, and they don’t experiment as much with inventing or creating new trends. They offer luxury-esque items at an affordable price. When a new trend is established on the runway, they try to drop designs corresponding to these new styles within weeks.
I was at ZARA the other day and I saw this:
Now compare those to the BALENCIAGA Speed Trainers:
Pretty similar eh?
ZARA remains attractive to customers because they can provide us with the same luxurious feel while keeping the price affordable. These trainers are already heavily advertised by BALENCIAGA and are widely seen in public. It’s almost as if BALENCIAGA is advertising for them, so there’s really no need for ZARA to advertise their own sneakers.
2. ZARA does a lot of research. (And they’re really good at it.)
When I say ‘a lot’, I mean a shit ton. There are close to 3000 ZARA stores worldwide, and these retail store locations are selected intentionally and with extreme selectivity.
ZARA researches hot locations where projected footfall is high. These locations are usually city centers, where people’s pockets are pretty full and there are high demands for luxurious clothing.
In addition, ZARA employs fashion experts and trains them to observe and analyze customer behavior. In a BBC interview, a reporter noted that there were ‘rows of desks’ where staff were analyzing data gathered by the store managers. ZARA then implements these customer feedbacks into their next design. They’ve developed a system where the customer is contributing to the designs, and it builds both brand loyalty and a responsive supply chain.
Back at headquarters, there is a ZARA pilot store with no customers. This store is solely for the purpose of styling the store and deciding how everything should look or feel. They decide how clothes should be placed, what music should be playing, and even the degree of lighting that they should use to make the outfits look more appealing.
Because ZARA doesn’t advertise, its layouts of stores and websites do most of the promotional marketing. This means that in order to stay competitive in the industry, they take extra care in making everything perfect.
3. ZARA is relatively sustainable for a Fast Fashion brand
Right now, sustainability is a big aspect that can heavily influence the demand of fashion items. Most shopping bags at retail stores are now using sustainable and recyclable material, and brands try to advertise their sustainability goals as much as they can to attract more customers.
ZARA also excels at being sustainable. The aforementioned strategy of their low stock inventories reduces waste. Additionally, most ZARA stores have boxes that say ‘bring any clothes you no longer wear and give them a new life.’
In a world where sustainability is a key aspect in shopping apparel, ZARA’s eco-friendly initiative presents to be more appealing to environmentally aware consumers.
Personally, I love ZARA. Their clothes are affordable, comfortable, and sustainable. They’ve committed themselves fully to their customers, and we can clearly see that in their products.
High quality meets affordable price. It’s a one of a kind brand.
*No copyright infringement is intended for images.
