42% online sales increase for Inditex

The owner of Zara, Inditex, has seen a dramatic online sales increase of
42% to reach a record figure of €553m (£442m), even though other
fashion chains continue to struggle.

Consumer
spending in Spain has decline over the past few years, but the group,
which also owns Stradivarius, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti,
appears to have outwitted the recession. The company has reported an
increase in turnover, from €15.9bn last year to €16.7bn this
year.

The
group’s online sales accounts for only 3% of its overall sales, but
it is responsible for 20% of the growth over the past 12 months.
This information was obtained from its annual reports as the
investors are not offered separate figures for online sales.

Inditex
commenced its online offerings during 2007 when it opened a website
for Zara Home. During 2011, it set up Fashion Retail to include all
its brands online. Its online operations currently extend to 27
countries.

The
group surprised the industry last month, by its appointment of
31-year-old Maria Fanjul as the head of its global online operations.
Fanjul previously held the role of chief executive at entradas.com,
which is the biggest online ticketing agency in Spain.

Inditex
launched the Zara website in China last month, on the Tmall platform,
which is a subsidiary of Alibaba, the top Chinese e-commerce group.
Other retailers on this platform include Gap, Calvin Klein and
Burberry. The group already had a Chinese Zara website, which is
responsible for about 8% of its sales, but it was almost invisible to
the Tmall users.