Today, I learned about the supply chain management of Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo. Before an hour ago, the only insight I could have given about these companies would be that I liked Zara better than H&M.
Apparently, I might like Zara because it's main goal is to stay right on top of trends. It is able to do this by restocking its stores as rapidly as twice a week. New clothes are available almost before customers even realize they're the new style, which is to their advantage.
Zara's "more basic T-shirts, sweaters, and the like" are ordered before the beginning of the season, but this only accounts for about half of its designs. The other half is produced in places closer to headquarters, Portugal, Turkey, or Morocco, as the trends come along. This would not have seemed particularly impressive to me before, but I read here that adapting to the sudden changes in the fashion industry is much less prevalent in most retail companies. Eighty percent of products are ordered in advance in a typical business model.
The other two companies compared to Zara are still successful, but make more long-term decisions.
I wonder how this will play out for them as the world continues to become more fast-paced.
Here is Zara's website. Its clothes look really cute.
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