Zara UK's Customer Profile, Ansoff Matrix Analysis, And Digital Marketing Strategies Essay.

Customer profile details of Zara

Describe about customer profile details of Zara. Ansoff matrix analysis of Zara, UK and igital marketing for Zara, UK?

Zara in UK is much more than clothing. Zara is a part of Inditex group. Zara has more than 5000 stores in different corners of the world. They have their presence in Europe, USA and Middle East countries. The designs that one can expect from Zara cannot be expected from some other brand and that is one of the reasons due to which people from different corners of the world are excited to try Zara clothing. The well thought out designs at Zara are very much in sync with the needs and requirements of today’s fashion requirements. Fashion is for both men and women and hence, Zara has a wide range of designer clothes for both, men and women.

The clothes that are available at Zara will be liked by only people who are fashion freak. They have the best of designers and technologies so the best of designs are available to the target market at an affordable price. Most of the retail brands today are facing tough competition from the new upcoming brands but that is not the case with Zara. Zara is witnessing continuous growth in the last few years and hence, they are motivated to come up with plenty of more designs. They try to understand the fashion market and they continuously update their store so that the customers can find something every time, they walk into the store (Unique Business Strategies 2014).

The customer profile of Zara is different than that of the regular retail brands and hence, this helps them to acquire a competitive position in the market. Zara targets only people who are willing to be updated with the upcoming fashion and fashion trends. The most fashionable clothes are available in Zara and that too at an affordable price. This store doesn’t target females only. Anybody, who is willing to be updated with fashion, can walk-in into Zara stores. Men, women, teenager and even a child can get fashionable with Zara.

The market segmentation of Zara, UK is different than that of the other retail brands. Most of the retail brands prefer to undertake segmentation based on sex, age, demographics of the customer but that is not the case with Zara. All the group ages, sexes and demographics is the market for Zara and hence, they didn’t want their customer to be bifurcated on these grounds. Zara targets people based on the passion and interest that they have for fashion. Contemporary, trendy, Latino, Classic and grunge are few of the ways by which the customers are divided. The taste and preference of customers at Zara, UK is unique and depending on the taste and preference, the customers are segmented for further, targeting (BBC News 2013).    

Zara, UK believes in targeting people who are very much fashionable. Many people who want to speed up so that they can catch up with the latest fashion trends are targeted by Zara, UK. The price of fashion clothing available at Zara, UK is very affordable. Plenty of people are willing to be fashionable but all cannot afford to buy clothes from high-end fashion boutiques so those people can walk in into Zara stores. Zara, UK will not be available at all the locations and it can be noticed that Zara stores are available only at high end locations. In every four to five weeks’ time, the clothes available in the store will change and hence, this allows them a chance to have four to five weeks’ turnaround time. Apart from the fashion clothes available in the store, the brand persona associated with Zara, UK is one of the reasons due to which the crowd is attracted to Zara stores and not any other retail store (The telegraph 2012). 

Ansoff matrix analysis of Zara, UK

Zara, UK’s motto is to democratize fashion and hence, they have position themselves as a brand where one can find plenty of fashion items. It is positioned among the target market as a store that sells highly fashionable clothes at an affordable price. This ensures that everybody, who is willing to be fashionable, can walk-in into Zara. The stores are located in only high profile locations and hence, customers have a perception that they will get something trendy and hip if they walk into Zara. The clothes available at Zara are very affordable and hence, the customer can change their wardrobe at frequent intervals to stay in the trend.

The management of Zara believes that they don’t want to spend excess money on branding and hence, the stores are designed in such a way that they can speak for themselves. Zara is present all the corners of UK and hence, shopping freaks cannot ignore Zara at any cost. The windows of the store is designed in such a way that any fashion freak will not walk away without entering the stores. Zara identifies luxurious spots in the UK and they place their spots over there. Looking at the financial growth of Zara, it can be said that this brand in the UK even when the whole world was suffering due to financial crisis. The design, supply chain and the production of Zara is well planned. The designing and production at Zara is very quick as compared to that of other fashion brands. The design work starts and the garment reaches the store in 10-14 days’ time. Zara is well aware of the fact that the fashion is fast changing and hence, any customer will find plenty of fashion garments when they walk into the store. If the same set of clothes are hanging in the store for longer then there are very high chances that people may not like to walk into Zara. Zara’s ever changing clothes is one of the reasons due to which customer loyalty increases (Retail Week 2014).

Ansoff matrix is well implemented by Zara, UK. Market penetration, product development, market development and diversification strategy is well planned and implemented in Zara, UK. Few of the success stories of implementation of each of the strategy are discussed below.

Zara, UK believes in market penetration rather than that of trying to capture a new market. This is one thing that differentiates the marketing strategies of Zara from that of the other competitors and retail clothing brands. Zara, UK’s clothing line moves faster than that of the brands like H & M. Zara has a team of internal designers and designers are confident enough that they can have any design from the drawing board to shelf in just 14 days time. This allows Zara, UK stores to have new designs every week. A customer who just walked in last week would prefer to walk in again so that they can track if anything new is available. Zara believes in having in-house designs only. On the other end, H & M prefers to get items from local markets like China and other Asian countries. All the items in Zara, UK would be fast moving fashion items but that is not the case with H & M and other retail brands. H & M has other products as well and hence, there are very high chances that it may not move as faster as fashion items.

Digital marketing for Zara, UK

Zara, UK is well aware that fast-moving fashion is their strength and they will have to retain it at any cost. Zara, UK has most of its manufacturing unit in Europe. The cost of manufacturing in Europe is much higher than that of manufacturing in Asian countries. Zara, UK wants to ensure that the shipping time is reduced to the extent possible and hence, they have located their manufacturing centers in Europe. Zara, UK has control over all the aspects of business and this is one of the reasons that make Zara competitive. Designing, production and supply chain is in-house and hence, they can be rest assured that any mistakes can be rectified (The Huffington post 2012).   

Market development strategy is also well implemented at Zara. They look for an existing market whose needs aren’t fulfilled so that their needs can be targeted. In UK, there is a gap between the high-schoolers and college going kids. Their fashion needs are identified by Zara and this is one market which is served by Zara only in the UK. Secondly, they believe in identifying the best market location so that Zara can grow. Zara stores will be located in high profile areas only so the marketing team will continuously look for places wherein they can expand.

Product development strategy is well planned at Zara and this helps the fashion store to attract the fashion conscious customers. Normally it takes 6 weeks time for a new fashionable product to be launched in the Zara store but they ensure that new products are continuously available so that the customers can come to the store at regular intervals. All the new products are developed in small quantities and at an affordable price. The customers, who walk-in into the Zara stores, are fashion conscious and at the same time, they are conscious about the money that they will be spending. Accordingly, the products are developed so that the customers can come and buy what they buy rather than that of being ignorant about it due to the pricing problem associated with it (In Style 2015).

Zara also has a team of professionals who constantly supervise the requirements of the market. They are available at all the places wherein customers shop and they accordingly give ideas to the designers. This helps the designer to get an idea about what is trendy in the market. Approximately 40,000 fashions are created every year at Zara but only 10,000 to 12,000 is put to production. The designs are completely based on the observant team that tries to understand the fashion likes and dislikes of the customer.

Apart from all the three strategies, diversification strategy is also considered at Zara. Few years back, Zara was completely dependent on manual work for the plenty of upcoming fashion trends but that is not the case anymore. Today, they have the best of technology so that they can choose colors from the computer and design the clothes in the computer. Technology is used to a large extent and hence, the designers can directly give command to machinery for getting the fashion produced. Zara will manufacture things in small quantity only and hence, there will not be any discount at Zara.

Zara is well aware of the importance of digital marketing and hence, they ensure that they have their presence in the digital marketing space. Facebook is one of the places wherein everyone has their presence so how can Zara stay back. Zara knows that they will have to be active on Facebook so that they can attract the customers to frequently visit their page. Every day twice, Zara, UK’s page is updated with new picture. If a user likes the Facebook page of Zara, UK then they will be eligible for 15% discount. This motivates the user to like the page to get discounts. The Facebook members are motivated to share their creations so that they can be recognized and this will increase the number of people who are viewing Zara, UK’s Facebook page. Twitter is also used extensively by Zara, UK. It is seen that minimum of seven tweets are posted in a day. The tweets are related to fashion blogs, new creations or anything related to fashion. Most of the people on twitter tweet back and hence, the number of people who are aware increases automatically (This is money 2015).

Pinterest is also used by Zara, UK to make people aware of the fashionable clothing that is available in the stores. Most of the customers are willing to know the price of the newly fashion that is launched in the market and hence, through Pinterest, Zara, UK ensures that the customers can get to know about the price and this allows them to shop accordingly. Instagram is also used extensively for the purpose of attracting the customers to shop. Every cloth available at Zara, UK can be worn in multiple ways. The customers are motivated to dress up their own way and post the same on Facebook and Twitter. The best dressed person’s picture is posted on Instagram. This motivates them to be more fashionable and trendy. Zara, UK conducts live fashion shows at regular intervals. The videos of these events are posted on Youtube. This helps Zara, UK to spread aware among the loyal customers about the new designs that are available in the store.       

Apart from social media, Zara, UK also uses various internet marketing strategies to educate their customers. SEO is one of the key strategies that is used by the fashion store. They write a lot of SEO friendly contents so that search engines can show Zara for fashion related search. Paid ads by Google are also used extensively. These are few of the cheap advertisement strategies that are used by Zara, UK to attract the huge youth market. Google Analytics is used to understand the demographics of the user. These demographics are used by the sales team so that they can plan their further marketing strategies. Mobiles can also be used smartly to attract the target markets. Every year a budget of $2 million is allocated to Zara, UK. This allows them to give discounts to customers who are using Zara mobile app (Zara 2015). 

Conclusion

Zara is well aware of the target market that they are willing to attract. They are placed in high profile locations so that the fashion oriented customers can walk into the store and shop something fashionable and trendy. Zara is not an expensive brand wherein everybody cannot afford to shop. This is one of the major reasons due to which most of the customers stay loyal to Zara. Ansoff Matrix is well implemented at Zara and hence, they give good attention to product development, market development and also diversification.

References

Zara, 2015, About Zara, Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.zarahome.com/gb/en/

This is money, 2015, Thousands of Zara employees to benefit from clothing company's new profit share scheme, Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3000844/Thousands-Zara-employees-benefit-clothing-company-s-new-profit-share-scheme.html

In Style, 2015, Zara Spring Summer 2015: The New Collection, Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.instyle.co.uk/fashion/editors-picks/zara-the-new-collection

Retail Week, 2014, Comment: UK proving to be a challenging market for Zara, Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.retail-week.com/sectors/fashion/comment-uk-proving-to-be-a-challenging-market-for-zara/5064611.article

The telegraph, 2012, Zara owner Inditex grows market share and profits, Viewed on April 16, 2014, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9552298/Zara-owner-Inditex-grows-market-share-and-profits.html

Unique Business Strategies, 2014, The story of Zara – the speeding bullet, Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.uniquebusinessstrategies.co.uk/pdfs/case%20studies/zarathespeedingbullet.pdf

The Huffington post, 2012, Zara Owner Inditex Reports 'Stunning Figures', Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/12/zara-parent-company-inditex-stunning-figures_n_2283011.html

BBC News, 2013, Zara-owner Inditex's profits rise by 22%, Viewed on April 16, 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-21769261