Inditex Spain announces 1,200 store closures worldwide. The company will focus on the Inditex Open Platform, a personalised online experience. However, according to the Unions, the store closures and the relocation of employees are not following the agreement.
1,200 store closures will happen in the next two years. This will include between 250 and 300 stores in Spain. Although the board of the Spanish fashion giant already made this announcement in September 2020, Inditex is now confirming the plan for 2021-2022. The first store closures began last year. Starting from this week, until the end of 2022 more and more Inditex stores will continue to close.
Successes and growth Inditex already declined in 2019
Spanish news site Infobae.com writes that 2019 was the first year the company ended with fewer stores than it started. However, the corona pandemic and the fact that shopping now mainly takes place online has accelerated the closure of the stores. At the beginning of this year, it was announced that all stores of Bershka, Pull & Bear, and Stradivarius in China will close.
Fashion giant from Spain focuses on personalised online customer experience
The Spanish company has therefore fully focused on a new online shopping experience; Inditex Open Platform (IOP), which has been under development since 2018. In 2019, only 14% of purchases were made online. However, by 2022, the plan is to increase the number of digital purchases to 25%. To this end, Inditex has invested €1billion to provide a spectacular and personalised online experience for its customers.
Indignation about re-employment of Inditex employees
On Tuesday, the Spanish newspaper ElDiario wrote about the closure of Inditex stores in Spain. It reported that 79 stores will close before April. Last October, the unions reached an agreement to maintain employment of the 818 employees of Zara, Lefties, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti and Oysho.
Nevertheless, employees have now received an offer for a similar job. However, this is for fewer hours, less wages and less favourable working hours than previously agreed. Unions say this is simply an ERE scheme in and disguise and employees feel this is a way for the company to ensure staff resign of their own accord.
