Possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world - led by a Warrior?

Here is a guy I am willing to bet 99% of Warriors have never heard of.
Passed Warren Buffet in wealth as #4 on the Forbes list at a net worth of $70.9 Billion!
His name is Amancio Ortega and he owns what is now the largest fashion retailer on earth.


Why am I writing about him?

This guy is one kick ass warrior! He built his wealth in large part using methods that are often discussed in our offline forum.


The Background:

He cofounded Zara with his wife making lingerie and bathrobes he and his former wife Rosalia Mera made in their living room. Here is a quote from Forbes: “Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette once called Inditex "possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world." Inditex is the parent company for Zara.


How is he an amazing Warrior?

1. Examined the status quo, found a flaw and did it different:


Up until Zara/Inditex came along the fashion industry and all retailers had two lines. Mr. Ortega realized that shoppers wanted to buy clothing much more often than the styles changed. His model is to release new lines frequently in limited number. How frequently? Zara restocks twice per week! This is working so well because it forces customers to come back more often.


“They broke up a century-old biannual cycle of fashion,” an analyst told Hansen. “Now, pretty much half of the high-end fashion companies” — Prada and Louis Vuitton, for example — “make four to six collections instead of two each year. That’s absolutely because of Zara.” Forbes


2. Used Scarcity:

Thanks to changing stock so quickly he created a now-or-never in the minds of his shoppers because of limiting production. His company’s stock changes so frequently you are not leaving thinking I will come back when it is on sale.


3. Cheaper Design Costs and Better Product Using A Feedback Loop:

Rather than hire world-class designers, Zara, which is based in Spain, politely copies them. Then it relies on a global network of shopper-feedback to tweak their designs. Corporate HQ absorbs thousands of comments and sends tweaks to their manufacturers in Europe and Northern Africa, who literally sew the feedback into their next line of clothes. Tell me this guy is not a warrior!


4. Cheap Targeted Traffic:

Zara tries to build their stores as close as possible to the luxury boutiques like Stella McCartney and Chanel. They go out of their way to avoid the high rents but make sure they are in the neighborhood. Basically they go where the traffic of their ideal client is. Hmmm sounds oh so familiar.


5. Found a perfect targeted niche:


Before he did anything he found the perfect niche! We all know people buy knock offs that try to pretend they are the real thing. The flaw with that is the issue folks have being caught with fakes or poor quality. Zara took advantage of this but does not try to fool anyone because they also capitalized on the fact that it is now totally cool to brag about the deal you got. How cool? A listers like Kate Middleton are often photographed in the brand. They also make sure their product is top quality. It is not made in China etc.. but rather in Spain and Portugal.


Summing it up:


In hind sight it is obvious that a company that sells high fashion for low prices and offers constant new merchandise is set to do well in today's marketplace BUT it took one smart Warrior minded individual working out of his living room to turn that into billions of dollars! They continue to stick to extremely limited marketing budgets and overhead and continue to grow like crazy.


Anytime you think the ideas being shared here are small, give your head a shake. They do just as well in more scalable businesses. This is a prime example.