Analysis: What Inditex’s strategy tells us about the future of fashion
Inditex has unveiled plans to better integrate its online and offline propositions, invest in larger flagship stores and harness RFID technology within its new ‘in-store mode’ app. But what do such plans tell us about the direction of travel in fashion retail?
From being responsible for each season’s ‘it’ dress to its lack of marketing budget, Zara owner Inditex has become renowned for doing things differently.
While the Spanish fashion giant’s latest quarterly results reveal that even it is not immune to the struggles of the sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, Inditex’s plans for the next few years set out a blueprint for how fashion retailers could operate and grow in this new world.
The group suffered its first ever quarterly loss in the three months to May 31. It slipped €409m (£363m) into the red after sales slumped 44% to €3.3bn (£2.9bn) during lockdown. But rather than dwell on a challenging quarter, in which 88% of its global store portfolio was shuttered at one stage, Inditex is learning lessons that will better equip it for the future.
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