Spanish clothing conglomerate Inditex has announced it will sell products from all of its retail fascias on the internet around the world by 2020, including markets where it does not have stores.
The parent company of Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Stradivarius is developing new technologies to achieve this, pairing up with tech firms and testing new ways of handling stock.
Speaking at a press conference in Milan yesterday, Inditex chief executive Pablo Isla said that a system whereby online customer orders could be covered with store inventory would be extended to all 96 countries where it has physical stores.
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Inditex currently operates in 49 markets with a network of almost 7500 physical shops.
“We want to make our fashion collections available to all our customers, wherever they are in the world,” Isla said in a statement after the press conference.
“Even in those markets which do not currently have our bricks-and-mortar stores.”
The news comes after Inditex stock plummeted by over five per cent on the Madrid stock exchange last week after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to “underweight”, citing sensitivity to currency movements and shifts in sales channels.
Last year, Inditex’s online sales jumped 41 per cent to reach 10 per cent of group net sales, although this was still smaller than Swedish rival H&M’s figures, which makes close to 12 per cent of sales online.
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