Zara owner Inditex faces turnaround thanks to online growth

Despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis, fashion group Inditex‘s revenue is picking up again. The retailer’s online performance is particularly strong.

Digitised stores

Inditex, the group behind well-known fashion brands such as Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, achieved a turnover of 6.1 billion euros in the third quarter of the current financial year. This is a decrease of 10 per cent compared to the previous year, but a clear improvement compared to the drop during the second and first quarter, respectively, 31 and 44 per cent.

These are encouraging results knowing that about five per cent of the group’s stores remained closed during the third quarter and 88 per cent of the stores had restricted opening hours and capacity. Online sales grew by as much as 76 per cent. The group was able to reduce operating expenses by 17 per cent and reduced inventories by 11 per cent. As a result, Inditex landed at a net profit of 866 million euros.

For Chief Executive Pablo Isla, the strong figures are proof of the fact that the group is on the right track strategically. Inditex is strongly committed to integrating physical stores with an online environment. For each brand, the group is opening larger and eco-efficient stores filled with the latest technology. In these digitised stores, the retailer will be able to manage stock much more efficiently.