Competitive Analysis of Zara - Research Paper Example

Competitive Analysis – Questionnaire Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 A.About the Company 3 A.Research Purpose 4 B.Hypotheses 6 C.Compilation ofa Questionnaire and Justification of the Questions 7 D.Relationship Table 23 References 24 A. About the Company 1. Introduction to Zara Zara operates as an international fashion company that is based in Spain. The company is recognized both as a popular brand in the Spanish market and also is observed as a global fashion retail brand. Zara was founded as a clothing company by Armancio Ortega during 1975 in Spain that subsequently focused to largely internationalize through opening retail outlets in both developed and developing markets (Suzy, 2012). In Spain alone the company has opened around 335 different outlets. The company is also identified as the flagship brand of the Inditex Group and based on its international expansion in different regions like Portugal, New York and Paris it tended to reflect a fashion icon of Spanish fashion (Loeb, 2013). Total number of stores created by Zara by the close of 2013 amounted to 1,763 which along with its other family brands like Pull and Bear, Oysho and Massimo Dutti tend to meet the demands of customers reflecting different attitudes and preferences (don Quijote Salamanca S.L., 2014). Potential competitors of Zara relate to Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) and Topshop that specifically operate to meet the needs of the luxury and women customers (Doran, 2014). Another potential competitor of Zara relate to Mango that operates in meeting the demands of trendy wear for both male and female customers. Both Zara and Mango operate in the luxury segment through exclusive retail outlets and also departmental stores. The two companies focus on promoting its merchandises based on the use of website and Facebook as the primary advertising mediums (Zara, 2013). 2. Direct competitors of Zara relates to the fashion retail companies like H&M, Topshop and Mango that essentially operate in the fashion retail segment. These companies are identified as direct competitors in that they directly compete with Zara in the luxury fashion garment. On the contrary the indirect competitors are identified to be such companies that though belong to the same business as the company cater to related customers outside the market periphery of the initial company (Glassman, 2010). Cortefiel is observed to be an indirect competitor to the Spanish fashion retailer Zara in that it operates as a Spanish fashion retailer that offers different products and brands to the regional customer base (Grupo Cortefiel , 2010). A. Research Purpose 1. Background of the Research The background of the research is to understand the competitive potential of Zara both in the Spanish and the global retail market. It would aim to understand and evaluate the areas where Zara is losing its market to its competitors and also the switching costs of customers in shifting to other brands. The promotional and product potential of the competitors of Zara would also be evaluated. 2. Research Questions i. Who are the significant competitors of Zara? ii. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Zara’s competitors? iii. What are the pricing and promotional techniques used by Zara’s competitors? iv. What is the potential of the customer services offered by the competitors of Zara? v. What retailing strategy is followed by Zara’s competitors to make merchandises accessible to customers? 3. The target population for the research would consist of consumer groups relating to different age, income, occupation and educational categories. A total of 100 people would be taken to help in constituting the sample for the research. Use of stratified random sampling method would be used such that the same contributes in randomly selecting the population from different strata sets. This helps in reducing the errors relating to the use of random sampling technique (Hulley, 2007). 4. The mode of conducting the research would be based on the survey research method such that the same contributes in effective probing to gain potential inferences related to the research questions. Structured or close-ended questionnaire sets designed related to the gaining of specific inferences related to the research issue (McNabb, 2004). 5. The first question would specifically contribute in highlighting the potential competitors of Zara Inferences gained related to the second research question would conduct the analysis of the internal environment of the competitors in terms of understanding on the strengths and weaknesses. The third question would contribute in the understanding of the potential of the pricing and promotional techniques used by Zara’s competitors in attracting and sustaining an effective customer base. The fourth question would effectively reflect on the potential of the customer services strategy of Zara’s competitors compared to Zara’s own in enhancing customer satisfaction and in creating a loyal customer base. The fifth question would help analyze the retail and distribution strategy used by the competitors of Zara compared to the company in making the merchandises accessible to the larger consumer market. B. Hypotheses This section would focus on formulating different hypotheses that would be proved based on the inferences gained from conducting the exploratory research. Hypotheses 1: a. The pricing and promotional techniques of Zara’s competitors are more effective in encouraging customers to switch over from Zara. b. The pricing and promotional techniques of Zara’s competitors are not potential enough in encouraging customers to switch over from Zara. Hypotheses 2: a. Customer services generated by Zara’s competitors help in generating greater customer satisfaction and stopping them to switch over to other brands. b. Customer services generated by Zara’s competitors do not generate greater customer satisfaction and in stopping them to switch over to other brands. Hypotheses 3: a. The retailing and distribution strategy of Zara’s competitors help in making the merchandises more accessible to the customers compared to Zara. b. The retailing and distribution strategy of Zara’s competitors do not help in making the merchandises more accessible to the customers compared to Zara. C. Compilation of a Questionnaire and Justification of the Questions This section would focus on the development of a questionnaire and would also provide a brief analysis and justification for each of the different type of questions. A total of 25 questions would be formulated to generate needed information related to the research questions. Personal/Demographic Information 1. What is your gender? Male Female Justification The segregation or segmentation of the respondents based on the use of gender profiling would help to understand the factors that the majority of the respondent groups whether male or female tend to identify in generating competitive advantage. Relating to garment and fashion industry the analysis would reflect on the expectations of the respondents relating to different factors like price, product quality and variety or on the level of customer service generated (Azevedo, 2013). Question Type and Analysis The above type of question is dichotomous in nature for being based on two specific options. Responses gained against the structured questionnaire would be reflected through use of graphs to generate greater clarity. 2. In which age bracket do you belong to? I. Read More