Leticia BragaLast month, Zara , part of the Inditex group, reopened its doors in Spain, in a store of less than 400 square meters, as part of the easing of lockdown measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This initial reopening brought together all of the group’s brands, including Zara , Zara Home, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Kiddy’s Class, and Uterqüe, with the aim of recovering some of the losses incurred after the closure of its stores on March 14th, following a recommendation from the WHO (World Health Organization).
However, this measure has been overshadowed by the closure of 1,200 Zara stores , which resulted in historic losses for the company in the first quarter. For the first time since its listing on the Madrid Stock Exchange in 2001, Zara reported losses of $463 million. This is a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the group’s president, Pablo Isla, has identified as the future of retail.
“The stores we are going to absorb are profitable. We are not taking this measure for economic reasons, but because our vision is long-term,” explained Pablo Isla in a press release. Yes, online sales are here to stay, and this involves strengthening customer platforms and strategies. In fact, the Inditex group expects these sales to represent 25% of its business volume in 2022, compared to 14% in 2019.
To achieve this optimally, the group will invest approximately €1 billion in its digital sales platform alone between 2020 and 2022. This follows the reopening of more than 5,000 stores out of a total of 7,412 locations that Inditex has worldwide of their other brands which Zara is not included, fairly say “Zara No Goza” because the others are Berksha, Stradivarius, and Massimo Dutti. “It’s a gradual recovery in sales in the markets for the support, where stores have reopened only for the other stores because we adjusting the closings of Zara were we closed the 88% of stores world wide due to the lack of sales,” confirms the group’s chairman, Pablo Isla.
Amandine Lhoste
Calin Van Paris
Alexis Parker
