This evaluation is worth 15% of your total course grade.
Attached is the case you will be analyzing, Zara and Inditex. You are being asked to summarize and analyze the case – clearly describing the major issues and providing analysis from the perspective of an International marketer. In addition, answer the questions below in a short essay style (paragraph) providing your reasoning. Your case summary and analysis should be approximately 3-4 pages in length (12pt font, 1.5 spacing).
All the information you need is in the case. You can read other sources for background but there is no need to create a bibliography. This is “your’ analysis – I am not interested in someone else’s thinking and opinions.
This case is about the international fashion industry. It also well demonstrates one of the fundamental problems in retailing – while first mover advantage with respect to innovative strategies in the industry can bring much success, competitors soon imitate. Resting on one’s laurels simply doesn’t work in today’s globally competitive marketplace.
The questions are:
1. What are the ways that Inditex ensures that “fast fashion” is truly fast?
2. Why would a retailer introduce their online stores country by country?
3. Why was Inditex slow to embrace online sales when they are so tech-savy in other ways?
4. Briefly describe two opportunities that you think, would provide Zara with continued growth over the next 5 years? Why?
5. In light of the pandemic and the required shift away from retail stores do you think Zara was ready for an online retail world? Briefly discuss?
You will be graded on the quality and correctness of your answers, English usage, and clarity of thought and structure of your response.
You will submit your answer, in a Word Document as part of your final test to the dropbox. The dropbox is enabled with Turnitin.
NB – Please write in your own voice and use your own words – read and think! Cutting and pasting quotes, phases and thoughts from outside sources will not be tolerated and will result in a zero grade. Also please do not use other Internet sources that purport to solve this case – Slideshare, Course Hero and other student papers – a Turnitin relationship to these types of sources will also result in a zero grade.
I encourage you to visit Zara’s website and if you can access the NYT’s article (link below) you can read it for further background (not required)
Let me know if you have any questions.
Zara International
https://www.zara.com/ww/
From The New York Times:
How Zara Grew Into the World’s Largest Fashion Retailer
From an unfashionable corner of economically disheveled Spain, Zara has conquered the “fast fashion” market by learning a new way to understand shoppers all over the world.
