Zara: Expansion Blues

The Inditex Group engaged in textile design, manufacturing and distribution, comprised over 100 businesses. Inditex's activities primarily revolved around eight sales formats: Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Kiddy's Class. Though these retail outlets predominantly sold women's fashion clothing, they also offered offered lingerie, cosmetics, shoe wear, children's clothing and menswear, and accounted for less than 20 % of Inditex's total sales. Zara Home, established in 2003, was a specialty home furnishings chain focusing on textiles such as bed, table and bathroom linens, complemented by tableware, cutlery, glassware and decorative items.

If the movie star, Jennifer Lopez appeared in a ravishing new item, Zara could get a version of it into its stores in a matter of weeks, not months.

After its successes in Spain, Zara had looked for new markets.

Unlike Spain where it owned all its stores, internationally Zara used three different modes of market entry: company-owned stores, joint ventures, and franchises.

Zara usually employed just one of these modes of market participation in a particular country, although it did sometimes shift from one to another.