Zara is transforming the way you shop. They want to take a simple shopping trip and transform it into a whole new experience. 

Zara is relying on a new “4Es” that many labels might have to follow to succeed in tomorrow’s market.

 4Es: a new set of priorities

 From social media to a more self-expressing education, millennials love experience.

So, what is more natural than offering them an experience in a clothing store? That is what Zara has figured out before any other company.

The Spanish label from Inditex group has created the 4Es rule: “Experience replaces the product, Exchange is the new price, Evangelism is now Promotion, and Every Place is the new Place.”

According to experts, this new “formula” could be the result of an in-house experiment, as more than 60 percent of Zara’s workforce is 30 years old or under.

Experience has trumped every other marketing model and now serves as the brand’s main ambassador. What matters is the experience. As Forbes’ Pamel Danziger suggests, Zara “pushes the client in, not pushing the product out.”

Shelley E. Kohan, assistant professor Fashion Institute of Technology, stresses that the 4Es will only increase Zara’s client data. “The two-way communication between the customer and Zara allows for continual improvement of product and services.”

Augmented Reality is the new reality

Gen Z likes interactivity, which is why Zara is introducing augmented reality display windows. Launched on April 18th, customers can see models wearing clothing on their smartphones through a sensor in the store.

Moreover, shoppers don’t even have to step in the store – they can buy from their phones with a single touch.

The project launched three weeks ago in 140 stores worldwide and is coined by Forbes as the “digital honey for millennials”.

For Anne Crithlow, an analyst at the French bank Société Générale, “It is now very rare in the physical stores-based part of the retail sector to find companies not disrupted by online. However, Inditex is a rare example of a company that should fare relatively well.”

Indeed, Zara is felt by the industry to be the only in-store label that survived the digital transition – as H&M announced to close more than 170 stores in 2018, more than in the two past decades. As a result, the Swedish retailer has decided to follow in the footsteps of Zara.

H&M on its way to the digital era

 Is H&M going to become Zara’s copycat for the digital marketing strategy?

In order to conquer a new type clientele, H&M has declared to adapt its windows to virtual reality too, last February.

H&M has also launched a GPS-reality augmented app to show its latest collection, to show to its investors that it can make the shift to the digital era.

According to specialists, as long as global retailers will not push the experience, sales will go down. The whole fast-fashion marketing strategy needs to reinvent itself – and the 4Es might be the key to success.