(Bloomberg) — Zara owner Inditex SA is banking on diversification across brands and countries as well as artificial intelligence to spur growth at the world’s largest listed retailer, Chief Executive Officer Óscar García Maceiras said.
With Inditex marking its 25th anniversary as a traded company, its efforts to serve a wide range of customers across the globe with a multitude of options will help the retailer differentiate itself, García Maceiras indicated in a Bloomberg TV interview with Francine Lacqua on Friday.
“Diversification is one of the key strengths of the group,” he said. “From a geographical perspective, we have physical stores in 98 countries and our online platforms are in 214 different markets and we have eight different brands.”
García Maceiras and Inditex Chairwoman Marta Ortega — daughter of founder Amancio Ortega — have been pushing to reposition the Zara brand beyond its core High Street markets by associating it with edgy designers, fashion icons and celebrities — mainly through limited collections. On the duo’s watch, the company has been accelerating its transformation to do more business online, grow in the US, and increase its recognition as a company that can offer both affordable mass-market products while also appealing to more upmarket clients, especially with its flagship Zara chain.
In addition to Zara, the company’s brands include Lefties and Massimo Dutti, among others. It operates in countries from Spain to China and is now betting on growing in the US. The company is also investing in AI and has launched a virtual tryout with which a customer, by taking two pictures, can digitally try on every single item available on the Inditex website.
García Maceiras, a lawyer by training, is Inditex’s third CEO since its initial public offering in 2001. He is also the only one to have served under Chairwoman Ortega. Inditex shares have risen more than 1,630% since its IPO in May 2001, compared with an 83% gain for the Stoxx 600 Index over that period.
While García Maceiras is more focused on running the day-to-day operations, Ortega has been involved in image and branding, spearheading many of the company’s initatives to create special collections — like the one announced this week with Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny.
“Marta Ortega’s vision is key in order to develop our strategy in terms of strengthening the level of relevance of our brands,” said García Maceiras. It’s the “nice combination of being a family owned business that allows us to focus on the medium- to long-term and at the same time being a listed company subject to the daily scrutiny of the market,” he said.
About Inditex’s founder, Amancio Ortega, García Maceiras said the 90-year-old publicity-shy tycoon remains an influence and inspiration for employees. Ortega has a net worth of about $125 billion, making him the world’s 16th wealthiest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
–With assistance from Clara Hernanz Lizarraga.
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