High street fashion brand Zara is currently trialling new virtual mirrors and self service tills which they believe will become the future of retail. The technologically advanced mirrors will allow customers to virtually try clothes on. The self-service tills lets Zara customers remove the RFID security tags and pay for the items themselves.
The retail giant is also rumoured to be considering mobile payments and 3D window projection devices.
Zara is owned by Inditex which also manages, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka.
Inditex runs 6,500 shops in 88 countries. The firm employs 128,313 workers with around 6,000 working in their head office.
Inditex was set up in 1963 by Amancio Ortega who originally wanted the store to be called Zorba. Amancio retired back in 2011 however he still owns 60% of the company. The company is notoriously private and never advertise. Inditex manufactures mainly in Europe.
The firm prides its self in delivering high quality latest fashion items at affordable prices. Inditex believes in quick products and fast delivery times. Zara has two weekly drops of new products and fashionable stock.
The Inditex northern Spain headquarters includes a model Zara store layout. This enables their Visual Merchandisers to easily trial new store concepts and work out the best way to display new products. Once the visual merchandisers are happy with the display they simply take photos and email them over to store managers. This retail studio is where they are currently trialling the virtual mirrors and self service tills.
Retailers can learn a lot from Inditex with their flexibility, speed and ambition to stand out from their high street competitors.
