Zara It for Fast Fashion Case Notes

In order for the host systems to receive the real time updates, the severs at the Delmar and Lajolla stores will also need updated. Both stores are using Windows NT Server which is another system that is over ten years old. The built in modem that is installed and cd rom is unless to the company at this point because there are newer and faster products that will be installed on the new server. The

point of sale system. The POS system is a perpetual inventory counting method that electronically records items immediately upon their point of sale (Stevenson, 2015, pg. 552). In other words, as a cashier scans a customer 's groceries, each scanned item is automatically recorded in the system and deducted from the store’s inventory. Implementing a point of sale would benefit a business’s inventory management function in several ways. First, the POS system will provide managers with a continuous flow of updated information (Stevenson, 2015, pg. 552). As a result, the information will provide more accuracy when used for sales forecasts and analysis, which substantially affect inventory decisions. Continuously, this inventory system would also allow greater flexibility in the sense that it can be wirelessly linked to the main company’s inventory system, creating a network of the company’s inventory systems. The POS system is capable of tracking many operations at once and can be modified according to management’s needs (MacCarthy, n.d.). This flexibility would undoubtedly benefit a large company like Wegman’s with many store locations. Lastly, the system is able to help businesses maintain a high level of customer service. Because the system gives customers a receipt with the price and quantity of each item purchased, the customer is able to see exactly what he or she purchased. This practice

It might not be in the retailer’s best interest to perform such upgrade, as the new system will replace three of the existing legacy systems in terms of ordering and fulfillment. The IS department will perceive such upgrade as a radical move and is expected to show high resistance in response to it. Even though Zara has a decentralized decision making process, the retailer’s IS department exercises absolute autonomy on the IT infrastructure and design. The fact that “only one person had left the department” in the past 10 years further confirms that the retailer is suffering from cognitive and action inertia, and thus creating a huge barrier for such

Yes, the company is missing out on communication and information sharing within the store network system. The in-store network allows connectivity and provides daily sales totals, also ordering in “real time “processing. It allows POS terminals to talk to one another and allows viewing of up-to-date data at any time.

For retailers, P&G has developed a sophisticated ordering application whereby retailers can now order via wired phone or wirelessly via a mobile

Zara’s IT was positioned in the support mode quadrant on the IT strategic impact grid. This demonstrates that Zara's leadership team understood that their corporate strategy focused on the expansion of the number of stores selling of high fashion, short life span clothing to young fashion conscious, city dwellers. There was a relatively low need for reliability and strategic IT, it simply existed to support employees activities (Nolan and McFarlan, 2005). By implementing a new POS system Zara could potentially have come up against the following key risks:

Zara is a modern day fashion business that takes an unconventional approach in their business model. Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies which belongs to the distribution group called inditex. They sell well made relatively cheap pieces of clothing that is always cut according to the latest fashion designed. Their customers are the heart of their designs, productions, distribution and sales. Just like all fashion companies, their primary goal is to be the number one fashion retailer. To obtain that success, their new business model challenges the industry and pushes them ahead of their competitors. Zara unique approach to fast fashion pays off as many other brands are trying to follow their success. What sets Zara apart from other modern businesses is that, their business model is to react to fashion trends as quickly as possible. Zara adapt quickly to current trends and fashion that the public demand. Their goal is create fresh new trendy design almost every one to two weeks that will be ready to be produced and shipped. Their primary goal in creating these new sketches is not only to identify trends but to evolve and never repeat their designs. Zara’s company’s strategy involves stocking their inventory very little and updating their collection often. This benefits them because it makes the shopper feel like they have to buy the item, or else it would be sold out later on. Zara’s risk taking strategy has proven to work because according to

Even though there are threats and risks involved along with other challenges, the firms move into the direction of expansion so as to reach and to penetrate new markets segments. Zara, a vertically integrated company, yet controls most processes in the supply chain wherein 50% of its products are manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe and 24% in Asian countries.  Although it outsourced the production of labor intensive processes, it still preserved the in-house other capital intensive processes, shielding its knowledge and know how. The quick-response capability of Zara is made possible by the three main stages that define the competitive edge of the company: design, manufacturing and distribution.

Zara’s successful fast - fashion business model also refers to its push-pull strategy in which the customer plays an active role. Zara’s design and production activity begins with customer demand in retail stores. The trend information and feedback are sent back continuously to the headquarter where designers create new designs based on the real-time data. This strategy enables Zara to get access to real demand and leverage the responsiveness to customers. A very fast and highly responsive supply chain is needed to make certain that deliveries are sufficiently frequent (Ferdows et al., 2004).

In ordering, managers learned about newly available garments by consulting a handheld computer that was linked each night, via dial-up modem, to information

When opening a new restaurant it is important to consider technology options that will offer competitive advantage, enhance profit, and work efficiently for the establishment. Three systems that are generally purchased for restaurant use are inventory systems, point of sales systems, and reservation management systems. All of these systems should be researched and compared on their functionality so the most suitable technologies can be implemented into the daily activities of the restaurant.

“Zara – IT or Fast Fashion” is a case prepared at Harvard Business School, by Andrew McAfee, Vincent Dessian, and Anders Sjoman. Zara is a fashion clothing line under the multinational clothing retailer and manufacturer Intidex. The case opens with a discussion between Xan Salgado Badas (Head of IT for Intidex) and Bruno Sanchez Ocampo a subordinate, on whether or not to update the current existing Windows DOS based POS (Point of Sale) terminals with advanced Windows operating system. The paper further details the business model and IT dependency. We try to analyze the current business model, its IT dependency, and why and how it needs to upgrade its IT infrastructure.

The supply chain from raw material to consumer it's from design and production to distribution and retailing. Zara has unique and rabid supply chain today. Design and production are internal process and are done in company. At Zara's headquarters, there are creative teams of three hundred professionals doing a design process. They responsible for design the designs which will satisfy customer needs and keep pace with fashion. Zara can take a product from concept through design, manufacturing, and store-shelf placement in as

What Bruno Sanchez Ocampo couldn’t see, was that even though the system was working properly, there were several gaps that a new system could fulfill efficiently. The lack of constant communication with the headquarters could be taken as a perfect example. The cost of having only one daily communication after the store was closed could be simply solved by a new wireless system. Having only one modem connected POS per store turned day to day operation into highly unproductive situation, not to say that using floppy disk and carrying them around the store each time was extremely out of date by the year 2003. A major lack in the system was that there was no possibility of sharing data between the POS and the PDA. As a consequence there was a complete miscommunication between the point of sales and the personal display assistants. Furthermore, another flaw in the system was the impossibility of communication between the different stores. This is a huge opportunity cost if we think about the internal supply that could be provided by the nearby stores. Even though Zara made an effort and changed the hardware of the POS, this seemed to be not enough. The software was still run by DOS and there was no more support for that kind of program.

The new online ordering system will give customers a full preview of our services, along with pricing options and discount offers. When customers do decide to make a purchase, the website will open a page that is secured by VeriSign, will have an online transaction processing schema and will prompt for their name, basic information, shipping address, payment option and billing information. Verification will be necessary for some of their more personal information, and if customers have any questions about the system, there will be hyperlinks at the bottom of every page that read, “Contact Us” and will