Business is looking good for Inditex, the quick to market Spanish clothier behind the Zara and Massimo Dutti chains whose smart supply chain model retailers are constantly curious about. The company posted a 26 percent profit rise for the first half of the year.
Inditex beat forecasts in its results released Wednesday: net profit hit 1.16 billion euro ($1.3 billion) for the Feb. 1 to July 31 period, net sales saw a 17 percent jump to 9.42 billion euro ($10.6 billion) and store openings totaled 94.
Expansion was in full force for Inditex this year, both with new stores and e-commerce as the company works to support its global growth.
The retailer’s 94 new stores were added in 35 markets, including in Brussels, Russia and Geneva. Zara and spinoff Zara Home led the growth, with the company opening 24 new Zara stores and 25 Zara Home outlets. The new additions bring Inditex’s store count to a total of 6,777 across 88 countries. Expansion of flagship stores also played a “very significant” role in growing store floor space.
More markets will be able to shop Inditex’s brands (Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho also among them) now too. Zara launched online sales in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, bringing its total online market count to 28.
Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear and Oysho also launched their e-sales platforms in China this month.
Inditex has seen steady success of late and was recently valued at $100 billion. Since the end of the first-half period in July, the company said store and online sales are up 16 percent.