Build An ECommerce Fashion App Like Zara: A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you wondered what makes an app like Zara a billion-dollar brand? Yes, its net worth is $17.8 billion, which makes it one of the largest clothing brands worldwide. Rather than emphasizing the number of stores, the brand concentrates on offering an integrated hybrid experience, attracting the interest of millions of customers. In addition to the Zara mobile app, the brand has extended into other verticals, the Zara Home app, and Zara Kids. The Zara fashion apps, along with apps like H&M, showcase how modern eCommerce brands are leveraging mobile experiences to drive engagement and sales.

If you are also looking to develop an app like Zara, welcome to the club of entrepreneurs who have a progressive attitude for their business. But where to start? No worries!

You've landed at the right place where you’re going to access an blog that will be a firsthand guide for you. This blog will lead you to create an app like Zara for your business. 

So, let’s start with the blog!

Understanding Business Model of App Like Zara

The mission statement of Zara—“give customers what they want and get it to them faster than anyone else”—is pivotal in the success of the brand. The next thing that makes brands like  Zara successful is their business model. 

Let’s have a closer look at the business model that an app like Zara follows: 

• Key Partners: Shoppers, Manufacturers, Suppliers, and Vendors. 

• Key Activities: Product designing & development, delivery & shipping, manufacturing, advertising & promotions, maintenance of Zara mobile app and website. 

• Value Proposition: Trendy clothes and fashion accessories at low prices, a fast fashion approach, eco-friendly manufacturing, integration of online and offline retail strategies, customer-centric design and user experience, and distribution practices.

• Key Resources: Intellectual property, dedicated outsourcing from the manufacturers, adaptation of the latest fashion trends, and dedicated human resources.  

• Customer Segments: Covers almost all categories from kids to men; the primary customer segment is customers of the 18-40 years age group. 

• Key Channels: Retail stores, ecommerce fashion app, Zara website, social media channels, newsletters, and press releases. 

• Customer Relationship: Transactional relationship, self-service, customer support, loyalty programs, offers, and discounts. 

• Revenue Stream: Retail outlets and ecommerce sales.        

How does an app like Zara earn?

It is one of the top questions asked on the internet—how does an app like Zara make money? Following its unique model, brands like Zara earn through multiple revenue streams such as:

• Retail Sales

Operating in 96+ countries, Zara has more than 2264 stores, and these stores are the prime source of revenue. Strategically located stores at prime locations offer a wide range of products, where customers purchase apparel and accessories in person.

• Online Sales

Another top source is online sales through Zara fashion app and website that offer a hybrid shopping experience to the customers. Its customers can shop online and get it delivered at their address, or by using the “Store Mode feature,” they can check whether a product is available at a particular store.    

• Seasonal/Special Sales

Zara also offers seasonal or special sales offers to allure the customers that in turn generate revenue for this fashion ecommerce brand. Using an app like Zara, customers get notified about it through push notifications. 

• Gift Cards

The gift card allows customers to buy products at a store in the same location or location after purchasing it. The customers can use these gift cards only physically, not for online shopping.  

• Zara Home

It is an extended vertical named the Zara Home app that offers a comprehensive range of home decor products and brings revenue for the company. 

Playing strategically in terms of revenue generation, Zara’s existing turnover is $29.1 billion that is anticipated to grow rapidly in the upcoming five years. If you are looking to launch a Zara app clone, it is the right time. If your question is, Where to start? Let’s move to the next section that demonstrates how to build an app like Zara.    

Create An App like Zara: The Development Process

Developing a Zara app clone requires patience and effort, so here you need to follow some steps such as: 

1. Defining Your Target Audience

The success of a business depends on who your customers are and how much you know about them. So start with the identification of your customers and target market. 

2. Choosing the Right Platform

The next step is to choose the right platform, such as Android, iOS, and web. It depends on which region you want to target. The best idea is cross-platform fashion eCommerce app development; that’ll help you to target more users using a single app.   

3. Hire E-commerce App Development Company

The most crucial step is to hire an ecommerce app development company with a proven track record in delivering outstanding apps like Nykaa or Zara. While hiring, check:

• Company’s portfolio

• Clients’ testimonials

• Team strength

• Experience of ecommerce app developers

• Pricing and payment terms

• NDA adherence 

• Communication and transparency

4. App Design and UX/UI Development

Visually appealing and user-friendly design will put your app, like Zara, on the center stage among fashion lovers, so create a visual delight in the form of app design, including graphics, icons, and a logo.

5. Backend Development and API Integration:

Create a robust backend for your app, implement features, and integrate third-party APIs, payment modes, and others to extend the functionality of your app.   

6. Quality Assurance 

Test your app for bugs and security issues. Offer your Zara-like app users a bug-free and smooth user experience through quality assurance.

7. App Launch and Marketing

Prepare and submit your app to the app stores with the help of experienced ecommerce app developers. After launching your Zara app clone, implement and apply a perfect marketing strategy to grow your business and user base. 

8. Post Launch & Maintenance

Make sure your fashion ecommerce app runs smoothly and offers a seamless online shopping experience, including security through post-launch and maintenance services. 

Key Features to Consider When Creating A Fashion eCommerce  App Like Zara

Features are crucial for outstanding user experience and satisfaction. There are two key components for a fashion ecommerce app user app and the admin panel. So, here are some key features to consider for developing an app like Zara: 
 

1. User App

• Sign Up and Login: Let your users sign up or log in effortlessly through social media platforms. Unlock tailored features like your order history and saved preferences.

• Product Search: Users can navigate through products by category, utilize search, or apply filters.

• Shopping Cart: This feature helps users to simply add their desired items to the cart and move on to checkout.

• Order History: showcases the details of previous orders placed by customers.

• Payments: Users can pay for their purchases through multiple payment modes such as debit card, credit card, and net banking. 

• AR Try-On: Leverage AR technology to allow individuals to experience trying on accessories or apparel in an immersive environment.

• AI-powered Recommendations: The AI recommendations feature suggests products  to users based on their preferences, order history, and demographics. 

• Voice Search: The AI-driven voice search feature will help you create an excellent hands-free shopping experience for your customers.   

• Social Commerce Integrations: Let your customers shop directly from social media platforms and turn their shopping experience into fun. 

2. Admin Panel

• User Management: Manage user accounts, track and monitor users’ activities, handle users’ queries, and more. 

• Order Management: Monitor incoming orders, process order-related operations, generate invoices, send order notifications, etc. 

• Product Management: Add, change, or delete products; arrange categories; provide product attributes like size and price; and monitor stock levels. 

• Store Management: Oversee all your stores in a click, manage staff, allow role-based permissions, and manage store operations. 

• Content Management: The CMS feature allows app admins or business owners to manage content such as policies, promotional content, and others effortlessly. 

• Push Notifications: Send push notifications to the users screens directly using the admin panel of the app like Zara, and stay connected with your customers.  

• Analytics & Reporting: Make informed decisions based on the collected data and its analysis using AI-powered data analytics. 

• Marketing & Promotion: Manage marketing and promotion on the go using your Zara-like app’s admin panel. 

Tech Stack

For developing an online clothing app like Zara, one of the most crucial requirements is a tech stack. It will help you to create a Zara app clone with a robust backend and a stellar frontend that creates a seamless online shopping experience. So, the tech stack you need to develop an app like Nykaa or Zara is as follows: 

• Frontend: React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin
• Backend: Node.js, Python, Ruby on Rails
• Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Firebase
• Cloud Hosting: AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
• Payments: Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay
• Security: OAuth, JWT, SSL Encryption
• AI & Personalization: TensorFlow, Dialogflow
• APIs & Integrations: Shippo, Facebook API, Google Analytics
• DevOps: GitHub, Docker, Jenkins

Cost of Developing a Fashion App Like Zara 

As a business owner, D2C ecommerce app development cost is one of the biggest concerns, as staying within budget while ensuring quality and functionality is challenging. The cost depends on multiple factors like features, complexities, platform, tech stack, and the development team’s location. 

If you are looking for how much it costs to build an ecommerce fashion app like Nykaa or Zara, then a ballpark estimate is that it varies from $20,000 to $80,000. But is just a rough estimate, because an exact estimate can be determined after analyzing requirements. 

Before we go deeper in this section, let’s have a look at some crucial factors that influence the cost to develop an app like Zara fashion app. 

1. Key Cost Factors in Fashion Retail Mobile App Development

• App Complexity: More features tend to have higher development costs.

• Platform choice (iOS, Android, or both): Platform selection affects the cost, which is why cross-platform e-commerce app development is cost-effective.

• App Design: Stellar designs require more cost and development time.

• Developers' location: development costs are different in different regions worldwide.

• App Features: Features are one of the most crucial factors that affect development expenses.

• Backend Infrastructure: Implementing a robust backend costs more.

• Third-party Integrations: Some integrations are free to use, but some require a good portion of the costs.

• Testing and Quality Assurance: Thorough testing takes time and resources.

• Post-launch Support and Maintenance: Ongoing support and updates have associated costs.

• Marketing and Promotion: Launching the app involves marketing expenses.

2. Ecommerce App Development Cost By Region

The world is open for all, and you can hire ecommerce app developers from any location. But remember, location-wise, costs are different, such as: 

3. Cost Breakdown

Here is the breakdown of D2C ecommerce app development cost. The following table represents how cost is calculated based on the various phases. 
 

Why Build a Fashion App Like Zara? (200-250 words)

According to Statista, the global fashion ecommerce market is projected to be $1.6 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030. In another published report by an authentic source, Instagram appeared as one of the most influential social media platforms for fashion brands. These numbers indicate significant business growth for fashion ecommerce retailers, with numerous opportunities yet to seize. Developing an app like Nykaa or Zara is beneficial for a business. If your question is why should I invest in developing a D2C ecommerce app like Zara? Here are the benefits: 

• Global Reach 

• Improved customer engagement 

• More customers 

• Enhanced brand awareness

• Data collection and analysis 

• Personalized shopping experience

• Providing customers a unique value and more.  

The Conclusion 

• Reiterate the potential of a well-designed eCommerce fashion.

• Encourage readers to take the next step in building their own fashion empire.

• Include a call to action (e.g., contact you for app development services, download a related resource, etc.)

So, are you ready to launch your ecommerce fashion app like Zara? A well-designed ecommerce app can help you to conquer your business dreams; only you need to take a strategic route. With the help of experts, you can make it possible. As a trusted ecommerce app development company, IMG Global Infotech is your go-to partner for developing a cutting-edge D2C ecommerce app for business. Our expertise lies in developing innovative e-commerce apps, websites, and platforms for global businesses. IMG Global’s team of app developers has proven expertise in using the latest technologies to create success stories in the form of online shopping apps. Share your requirements with us and get your app like Zara today!