The lead director of Louis Vuitton, Daniel Piette, once described the popular brand Zara as “probably, the most innovative and smashing distribution network in the world.” Now, Zara stores are almost in every big city in the world and it’s not just regular people who wear their clothes, but also celebrities. While bloggers and stylists argue over the quality of their clothes, people who are interested in fashion are rushing to the stores to buy something new. But when buying clothes in popular stores, we should be careful in order to avoid falling for the tricks of experienced marketers.
The Elite Indian talked to a former Zara employee and discovered 9 secrets of the brand that everyone who shops at this store should know.
1. Zara employees don’t buy the clothes they like in the store.
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Zara employees don’t buy clothes in the store, even if they like them a lot. Instead, they order the models online. This trick helps them to get a completely new product that nobody has tried on: in this case, there is almost no chance that a piece of clothing is dirty, or has some defects.
Besides, if you can’t find your size in the store, but you like the style, you can also order it online. It usually takes a few days for the product to be delivered to the store depending on your location and you can always get a refund if something doesn’t fit you.
2. You may not be able to find something if you come to buy it the next day after you saw it.
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During sales, clothes in stores are often moved. This is done to make us believe that the collections have changed. The sooner the sale ends, the further away the cheap clothes go. More expensive clothes are placed near the entrance — since they are from the new collection.
3. All employees have a card they can use to get a discount, and it’s not just for Zara stores.
Zara employees can use an exclusive card that gives them a discount not only in Zara stores but at all the stores from the Spanish company Inditex. This also includes stores like Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Bershka, Zara Home, Stradivarius, and Uterque.
4. The clothes that are put on the mannequins are chosen in a special way.
Some people think that the most expensive models are placed in the most popular spots in the store. But in reality, this is not really true: the mannequins and the windows show the clothes that became hits in other countries. The main goal of the store is to sell as many clothes as possible. So, if something was very popular in other countries, chances are the new release will be just as successful in other places too.
5. If you want to buy higher-quality clothes, pay attention to the tags.
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Zara releases 4 collections: Basic, Woman, TRF, and Studio. Basic is obviously basic clothes for every day. Zara Woman includes models of exclusive design and better quality. TRF is clothes for younger people, sportswear for those who like street style. Zara Studio are premium clothes that are not sold in every store but can be easily ordered online.
6. If there is a piece of clothing in only one size, this is probably a trick.
If you are shopping and then you see that a dress you like is only in one size, don’t panic. Ask the retail associate if there are other sizes. Do it even if this thing is on sale.
The thing is, sometimes, the stores only show one piece of clothing to make it look like you have to buy it now. Customers want to buy these things before someone else does. Because if you go to the store and see that there are a lot of dresses, you might postpone your purchase, go to different stores to take a look and compare prices and models, or even change your mind.
7. The stores deliberately show you full looks.
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If you look at the shelves, you will see that all the clothes that are placed next to each other, match each other and make a combo. This is done to make people buy an entire look instead of just one thing and to make combining clothes easier and faster. This is Zara’s way of making you buy more than you were going to.
8. Zara copies the models of luxury brands, but there is a difference.
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Many Zara products are exact copies or “half-copies” of famous brands. Designers of the brand keep track of the new releases from famous brands and choose the models they want to recreate in the upcoming collections.
Zara keeps track of the world’s trends and lets the people who want to follow the trend do it without spending a whole lot of money. But of course, Zara clothes are made of cheaper materials and their quality is much worse than that of luxury brands. For example, Gucci shoes, unlike the similar ones in Zara, are made of natural leather, are lighter, and are way more comfortable.
9. It is cheaper to buy clothes in winter and in summer.
Big sales at Zara happen 2 times a year: the winter sale starts before the New Year and continues until the end of January, and the summer sale starts in the middle of summer and lasts until the end of summer. This is why buying clothes from the new collections before the start of a sale is a waste of money. It is better to be patient and wait until the prices for the products drop, so you will spend way less money on the same things.
Have you ever bought clothes at a Zara store? Were you happy with what you bought?
Preview photo credit depositphotos
