Inditex takes its ‘retail of the future’ to Japan and opens third online-only store in Tokyo

Inditex takes its store of the future to Asia. The Spanish group, immersed in a transformation of its store network and its digital presence, has launched a Zara pop up store in Japan dedicated solely to online orders. The Inditex chain premiered this concept at the beginning of the year in London and a few months later replicated the concept in Milan.

The temporary shop is located in the Roppongi Hills shopping centre of Japan’s capital city. The facility is situated in the Roppongi district, popular in Tokyo for its lively nightlife and frequented by tourists.

The 800-square-meters store was inaugurated in May 8 and will remain open until Zara's flagship store in the same district reopens its doors next August after constructions works are finished.

Zara has opened a pop-up store only for online orders at the Roppongi Hills shopping centre in Tokyo

The online-only shop of Zara in Ropongi Hills has a small selection of womenswear, menswear and kidswear products, which could only be acquired through the Internet. Besdies, the store is equipped with a system that gives customers access to exclusive deals through a QR code.

In-store purchases are sent to the customers’ preferred address within a few hours or next day if the order is processed after two in the afternoon. The company also introduced credit card terminals equipped with bluetooth and intelligent mirrors that suggests different styles.

Zara premiered this store concept at the beginning of the year at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford (London), concurrently with the renovation works of its flagship store within the same mall. Last april, the fashion chain brought this concept to Milan with the opening of a pop-up shop within its flagship at Corso Vittorio Emanuele, as the premises were renovated.

The company has installed the second store with this concept in the largest ecommerce market

While Zara chose the European country with the highest ecommerce penetration rate for its first test, the fashion chain has also opted for a mature market much used to online shopping for the concept introduction in Asia.

Japan is the third largest market for ecommerce in the world and one of the fastest growing (with permission from China). Fashion is the most sold product category on the Internet and in the Japanese market there’s a wide range of local players such as Zozo Town, Mash Style Labs or Trinity Arts.

Although Inditex stepped into the online landscape later than other retailers, the Spanish giant has accelerated its digital transformation and embarked on a plan to reduce its dependence on the physical channel. Since then, the group has absorbed 1,046 points of sale, opened 2,994 new shops, reformed 1,241 and expanded another 907. In total, the group has transformed 80% of its retail surface.

The plan is part of the “fully-integrated” strategy that Pablo Isla, Inditex’s chairman and CEO, emphasizes each time he speaks with analysts during financial results’ presentations. At the same time, this approach has also involved the deployment of new technologies such as robots to pick up online store orders (which is being tested in A Coruña) or fast deliveries using physical points of sale as ecommerce warehouses.

Inditex ended fiscal 2017 (ended January 31) with revenues of 25,3 billion euros, up 9% over last year. Like-for-like sales increased by 5%, compared to a 10%-surge in 2016.