6. Sourcing and manufacturing About 40% of finished garments were manufactured internally, and of the remainder, approximately two-thirds of the items were sourced from Europe and North Africa and one-third from Asia. The most fashionable items tended to be the riskiest and therefore were the ones that were produced in small lots internally or under contract by suppliers who were located close by, and reordered if they sold well. More basic items that were more price-sensitive than time sensitive were particularly likely to be outsourced to Asia, since production in Europe was typically 15%–20% more expensive for Zara.
7. DESIGN The teams used information systems to track customer preferences and sales Zara‟s store managers lead the intelligence gathering effort that ultimately determines what ends up on each store‟s racks. Digital assistants (PDAs) are used to gather customer input, staff regularly chat up customers to gain feedback on what they‟d like to see more of. The valuable data allows the firm to plan styles and issue re-buy orders based on feedback rather than hunches and guesswork. The goal - to improve the frequency and quality of information system allows for the best design trends.