Recommendation

    After reviewing the processes that Zara has in place, we acknowledge they are efficient and successful but they could use a few tweaks. These small changes could go a long way in assisting the employees to complete their tasks, increasing customer satisfaction, and most importantly making them more efficient in their daily tasks. 

Structured:

The fact that customers need a receipt to return an item purchased is lacking in the area of technological upgrades. Most major retailers allow the search of a purchase on a credit card or other method of payment to verify the purchase. This needs to be updated as soon as possible. This will save the IT staff from having to locate digital receipts and email them to the customer and will simply streamline the process. 

We also found that Zara does not have their own credit card or even a rewards club. If they do not want to get into the banking business or partner with a bank as most retailers do, then a simple rewards club should be implemented. They could provide minimal benefits such as Nordy Club does in Nordstroms. Some of those benefits include having tiers that allow access to sales, different points or credits for levels of purchases, and even more points if you use a store credit card. This would allow Zara to have a better understanding of their customer's purchases and be able to anticipate their wants and needs even better. 

Another example of a rewards club is Target Circle, no credit card is needed, and provides insights into what customers are purchasing. You still can have access to what the customer is purchasing and when. You can give minimal cash back and use the service to offer seasonal sales to items that would be leaving the sales floor anyway. Both of these clubs are easy to implement and the data provided would be very useful. 

Dynamic:

After reviewing the suggestions process, we have decided to recommend implementing a formal system that will categorize suggestions. One for sizing issues and aesthetics should be a priority but other suggestions like material or design for religious reasons (wool blends for Jewish customers or facial coverings for Muslims) should not be lost in the shuffle. As of the current process, the Store Manager relays their concerns to the Project Manager who is the judge, jury, and executioner. The description given to us by the Store Manager of “it’s a drop in the ocean” is accurate and it shouldn’t be. Some suggestions should carry more weight, a weighted system is preferred, as their reflection on the brand or how they affect the customer’s perceptions or experience matters more on some issues. The example given of wool blends for Jewish customers needs to be relayed no matter what the Project Manager believes while a sizing issue for children's garments is not as critical to the perception of the brand. Having a simple, weighted categorization system should be easy to implement and would provide some feedback to the front-line Managers instead of hearing their ideas fall like drops of water into the ocean.