Market-driven ou market-driving (parte II)

Parte I.

"In the 1990s international incumbents such as Zara, started to erode Benetton’s market position. The rigidity of Benetton’s approach to distribution did not enable the company to rapidly match changing customer’s needs, a capability that was perfectly managed by competitors such as Zara and H&M, due to a total control of the retail-chain.
...
Benetton’s sales come from franchise operations. Zara and H&M, in contrast, own their shops, which make it easier to install unified systems that track global sales electronically’
...
Fast-fashionThe market-driven orientation is implemented also through the fast fashion concept in the fashion industry. The fast fashion concept indicates how some European fashion retailers are adopting effective strategies for answering in real time to consumer fashion trends, revolutionizing the fashion industry. Fast fashion necessitates that companies own an increasing number of shops worldwide, so that through the information infrastructure they can connect the consumer demand with the upstream of design, procurement, production, and distribution. To be successful fast fashion companies require a fast and highly responsive supply-chain. Finally, fast fashion companies achieve short development cycles, rapid prototyping, small batches and variety so customers are offered the late trends in small amounts.
.
Fast fashion is a strategy that has been developed to deal with constant changes in fashion trends. Fast fashion brands have created a system that is able to monitor and match consumer requirements and trends in real time. Many experts in the industry see Zara as the classic illustration of the fast fashion concept in operation
...
Zara’s “fast fashion” is the emphasis of putting fashionable and affordable design concepts matching consumer demand onto the high street as quickly as possible.
.
The company can get a new garment from design, through production and ultimately on the shelf in a mere ten to 15 days whereas the average lead-time for the fashion industry typically ran into several months. Zara’s business model tries to fulfil real time fashion retailing and not second-guessing what consumers’ needs are for next season, which may be six months away. As a result of Zara utilizing this ultraresponsive supply chain, 85 per cent of their entire product range obtains full ticket price, whereas the industry norm is between 60 and 70 per cent.
.
Zara’s garments are produced in small amounts, so as not to be over exposed, if a particular item is a very poor seller. If a product is a poor seller, then it is removed after as little as two weeks. Roughly 10 per cent of stocks fall into this unsold category, in direct contrast to industry norms of between 17 and 20 per cent. Stock are seen as assets which are extremely perishable and that if they are sitting on shelves or racks in a warehouse, they are simply not making money for the organization.
.
Another important strategy of Zara’s “fast fashion” philosophy is to frequently supply new items to retailers’ shops. These “fresher” product ranges stimulate shoppers into frequenting these stores on a more regular basis, on an average of 17 times a year. Through increased stock replenishment of new fashionable items, these stores are developing brand images for being cutting edge, trendy, and fashionable.
...
The resulting increased consumer footfall in shops eliminates the need for large expenditure on advertising and promotion."

Fast-fashion o segredo por trás do retorno de tanta produção da ITV a Portugal. Não é só a Zara, é toda uma série de empresas que embora não sejam tão competitivas e grandes como a Zara seguem, à sua maneira, esta abordagem.