Zara Launches Online Shopping in the US

NEW YORK, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fashion concept Zara, part of Inditex, one of the world's biggest fashion retail groups, is launching online shopping in the United States tomorrow, September 7, at www.zara.com, offering free delivery to all 50 states. Zara's online platform will sell the full range of women's, men's and children's clothing that are also available in-store.

Delivery options

Garment prices are identical online and in-store and there are two classes of delivery: standard and express. Shoppers opting for standard delivery will receive their orders at home for no charge within two to four days. Similarly, purchasers can opt to pick up their orders at the store of their choice, also free of charge, within a period of three to five days. The other option is express delivery: home delivery within 24-48 hours for a flat rate of $9.95. Regardless of the selected delivery option, product orders will be wrapped in purpose-designed eco-friendly packaging which keeps purchased garments in an optimal state until delivery.

Payments can be made using all the standard e-commerce payment methods such as PayPal plus all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

Free exchanges and returns

The exchange and return policy is identical to that offered in-store: during a 30-day period and free of charge, unwanted items can be picked up at home or returned to Zara stores. Zara has hired a logistics operator with a proven track record in the field to handle nationwide distribution.

www.zara.com users can also call toll-free customer service (855-635-9272) or write to a dedicated e-mail address for help with order-related queries or problems.

User-friendly

The www.zara.com website has been designed to make online shopping as consumer friendly as possible. The garment search function has been enhanced by a number of filter options (by garment characteristics, colors, sizes, prices, etc.). Shoppers can also find specific items by reference number, garment description, category, etc.

Shoppers can view their shopping baskets at any time while browsing, editing their product selections right away. Shoppers wishing to pick up their orders at a conveniently located store can use a store search and mapping tool to automatically locate the nearest Zara store.

The website displays visual content of the collections with photos, lookbooks, videos, etc. so that shoppers can get an overall impression of the current range; moreover, this content can be shared on the various social networks. Users can also sign up for a newsletter to keep them abreast of the latest fashions and trends.

The www.zara.com website has been designed to ensure shopping compatibility using any of the browsers available in the marketplace.

Dear America

To mark the launch of its e-commerce platform in the US, Zara has commissioned photographs of each of the nation's states. Noah Kalina, Peter Baker and Stephen Tamiesie are just some of the 24 photographers participating in the 'Dear America' campaign, comprising 50 photos which can be viewed on Zara's US website beginning tomorrow, September 7.

Internet and social networks

The US online platform is Zara's first outside Europe, where shoppers can already buy online in 16 countries. Zara recently celebrated the first anniversary of its online shopping launch on September 2. Zara is also very active in social networks. Of its over 10 million Facebook fans, more than 400,000 are located in the US. In conjunction with this launch, Zara has recently opened up a Twitter account, @ZARA_US, and the #DearAmerica and #ZARAShopOnline hashtags in order to keep its followers up to speed on all the breaking news in this market.

Zara in the US

Zara's business presence in the United States dates back to 1989 when it opened a store in New York at 750 Lexington Avenue. Along with Paris (France) and Oporto (Portugal), New York was one of the Spanish group's first international location choices when it began to expand abroad at the end of the 1980s. Today Zara operates stores in over 30 US cities, including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Houston, where it has flagship stores. In Manhattan, there are seven Zara stores, located along some of the Manhattan's best shopping streets, such as Fifth Avenue, SoHo and Broadway. In Chicago, the Zara store is located on the city's Magnificent Mile, Michigan Avenue, and is the retailer's biggest store in the US, while the Boston store is located on Newbury Street.  

Business model

Zara is known for its flexibility and swift response to emerging trends. With a creative team of over 300 professionals, the whole design process at Zara is centered around its customers' wishes and desires. The strategy is characterized by continual range updates: new items hit the stores every fortnight. Zara pays close attention to the design of its stores, store windows and shop interiors, locating them in the top locations on the busiest shopping streets.

Zara is part of the Inditex Group, one of the world's largest fashion retailers with over 5,150 stores in 78 countries across all five continents. In addition to Zara, Inditex has seven other fashion concepts: Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterque.

SOURCE Zara