Mango fashion store in Nigeria

Mango, the clothes retailer that is, not its name sake, the luscious mango fruit. When we think of Spanish retailer success stories, Zara immediately comes to mind and indeed it is still the number one clothes retailer out of Spain and one of the top 10 in the world. Zara and Mango are owned by the two richest men in Spain; Zara by Amancio Ortego and Mango by Isak Andic. These two Spanish giants have survived the recession of the last several years and are set to flourish if their predictions are to be believed. Zara is currently about 5 times bigger than Mango and has become a raving success story with its revolutionary turnaround time on getting the latest trends out to the masses. Mango, however is starting to catch up and has ambitious plans for the future. It was hit hard by the recent recession but is set to take the world by storm, one shop at a time – So how does it plan to do this and why does Spain turn out such world class clothing retailers?

In the words of the Fashions Houses owner Isak Andic “We create a fashionable product at an affordable price, in an environment that appeals to the consumer.” Can it really be this simple?

Mango’s turnover last year was €1.9 billion (US$2.6 billion) and already operates in 107 countries. Mango plans to open lots more branches and increase its turnover to €5 billion by 2017. Here’s how it plans to do that – By mirroring the success strategies that have worked for Zara – Just like Zara copies high end fashion designs and churns out trendy clothes at cut cost prices.

Kate Moss who has modelled for Mango. Photo by jingdianmeinv1, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.

1. Diversifying: Mango traditionally had a fairly limited range of just women’s wear and accessories but has diversified its range in the past couple of years extending to men’s ware, teenage wear, plus size range and children’s ware. This has opened up a whole different market to them and broadened their customer base.
2. Changing focus of product line: Mango has been known for glitzier evening wear and basics in the past but it now focusing more on day wear. “We had gone way too far with our focus on clothes for parties and events,” said Enric Casi, general manager of the Barcelona-based retailer. “Not even our employees wore Mango.” Focusing more on daywear makes practical sense as if you look at a typical woman’s wardrobe, you will see that the majority of clothes need to suit work and play for daytime. The turnover for daytime wear is also more often as clothes are worn more often.
3. Reducing Turn Around Time on New Trends: One of Zara’s key success strategies has been making trends available with new looks being showcased every 2 weeeks, bringing customers into their shops and online more often. Mango is going to take a leaf out of Zara’s book and plan to cut design to shop times. They will do this by bringing manufacturing from Asia to Europe but this may backfire as manufacture in Europe tends to cost more. Whether they can make a success of this remains to be seen.
4. Cutting Costs: Mango has made significant strides in catching up with Zara by slashing prices. Known generally for better quality, this has given Mango a decided edge. This strategy seems to be working with sales last year increasing by 9.3%

The key to Mango’s continued success can be applied to any company; a willingness to be flexible and go with what works. Remaining stagnant is never an option if you want to grow. Keeping an eye on your competition and adopting best practices will help you reach your goals. As Mango moves onward and upward in 2015, I will be keeping a keen eye to see if they reach their ambitious €5 billion turnover goal by 2017.

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If you are looking to emulate Mango or indeed Zara’s success in the clothing industry or in any other industry in Spain, then keep in mind that Healy Consultants Group Pte Ltd have much experience with company startup services in Spain and in Europe. For more information, please contact us at

Useful Links:

• Company Registration In Spain: https://www.healyconsultants.com/spain-company-registration/
• Ortego & Andic: https://www.cidob.org/en/articulos/spain_in_focus/july_2012/ortega_andic_who_are_spain_s_clothes_retail_tycoons
• Mango vs Zara: https://stylecaster.com/mango-lower-prices-compete-with-zara/#ixzz3lJ0eGEuo
• Mango fashion – sales and profit: https://www.catalannewsagency.com/business/item/fashion-retailer-mango-s-sales-up-9-for-2014-but-profits-down-by-11-to-107-million

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