Summarise the Benefits of Zara’s Vertically Integrated Supply Chain Explaining How It Supports the “fast Fashion” Model

Summarise the benefits of Zara’s vertically integrated supply chain explaining how it supports the “fast fashion” model.

Zara, Spanish clothing with retail chain throughout the world is probably the world’s fastest growing retailer with almost a thousand stores. Zara has it own unique business model that enabled Zara to be compete with its competitors, and it’s driven by Zara’s “fast fashion” with its vertically integrated supply chain. Vertically integrated supply chain allowed Zara to successfully build up a strong retail chain combine with the forces of fast fashion. Vertically integrated supply chain enabled company's domination of a market by controlling all steps in the production process, from the extraction of raw materials through the manufacture and sale of the final product. (Martin, 1988) While fast fashion is all about the quick respond to clothing trend. Objective of assignment is to summarise the benefits of Zara’s vertically integrated supply chain explaining how it supports the “fast fashion” model.

Efficient supply chain could lead to a dynamic performance for a company, in order to compete with competitors in terms of fast fashion; Zara itself applied vertically integrated supply chain which allows Zara to come out with innovative design then speed up productivity, allocation of sources, and thus distribution of stocks. By owning an in-house production, Zara enabled itself to be flexible in the multiplicity, quantity, and frequency of the new styles they produce. In this case, the latest fashion could be delivering to Zara’s customer in short time period. According Rachel Tiplady, Zara can take a design from drawing board to store shelf in just two weeks time. That let Zara introduce new items every two weeks, which keeps customers going back to Zara to check out updated stocks. It clearly stated that Zara perform a successful fast fashion with it unique supply chain which is integrated supply chain, and this supply chain not just benefit Zara itself, but also the consumer of Zara.

Time saving is the main purpose of apply vertically integrated supply chain in two sides which is Zara and Zara’s customers. Fashion as