Press releases
Inditex’s international expansion reaches a new milestone with the launch of the first Zara store in India
Excellent reception. The launch of Zara’s first store in India sparked great excitement.
* A Zara in Mumbai and a second location in Delhi are set to open in coming weeks
Zara has launched its retail business in India with the opening of its first store in the capital, Delhi, in the Select CityWalk shopping centre. The Inditex Group fashion retailer in coming weeks will debut an establishment in Mumbai and a second outlet in Delhi, marking the first steps in Zara's expansion in the Indian market. The company plans to roll out more locations in the country's largest cities. Following Zara’s foray into India, Inditex retailers now sell fashion in 77 countries.
The inaugural Zara in Delhi consists of a 1,800-square-meter space displaying the retailer's latest collections across all of its departments (Woman, Basic, TRF, Kids and Man). Zara will launch a Mumbai location of similar size in the Palladium Mall shopping centre, one of the busiest shopping destinations in India’s most populous city. The second Zara outlet in Delhi will welcome customers at the DLF Promenade Vasant Kunj mall.
Strategic market
Zara’s arrival in India -- the world's second most populous country, with 1.1 billion inhabitants -- represents a new milestone in the Inditex Group's expansion in Asia, a region in which it already had a very sizeable footprint. After opening its first Asian stores in Japan in 1999, establishments followed in other Southeast Asian countries – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines – in addition to Hong Kong (2004), mainland China (2006) and South Korea (2008). For its expansion into India, Inditex formed a joint venture with the Tata Group, one of the country’s top industrial conglomerates.
India’s economy has grown quickly in recent years, and the country has a large population of shoppers who are keen on fashion and up to date on international trends. The country has a dozen cities whose populations each exceed three million people, and the Indian market promises substantial growth potential for Zara’s fashion offering.
International expansion
The growth of the Inditex Group’s retail presence in Asia in recent years, one of the cornerstones of its expansion strategy, means that the region now accounts for 12% of Group sales, with Inditex stores tempting shoppers in Asia's largest cities. This expansion is founded on the growth of the Group brands in the region. In addition to Zara, consumers in Asia can find Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Stradivarius stores. In accordance with the company’s multi-format strategy, by the end of 2009 the aforementioned five formats also had stores in China.