Zara owner Inditex enjoys stronger sales as shoppers warm to winter fashion

Zara owner Inditex has enjoyed higher sales and bigger profits as customers turn to its autumn and winter collections amid colder months drawing in.

The fashion giant said it raked in 18.1 billion euros (£15.3 billion) worth of sales between February and July.

This is about a 10th more, at constant currency, than the amount generated over the same period last year.

Inditex said this reflected strengthening sales both in store and online for its spring and summer ranges.

The company’s gross profit increased by 7.5% to 10.5 billion euros (£8.9 billion) year-on-year, while its pre-tax profit jumped 10.6% to 3.6 billion euros (£3.1 billion).

Inditex is also behind labels including Pull&Bear, Bershka and Massimo Dutti, and runs some 5,670 stores around the world.

The retailer said it was seeing a good level of demand among customers for its autumn and winter collections, with sales jumping by 11% between August 1 and September 8 compared with the same period a year ago.

It comes as it highlighted efforts to improve and grow its shops, with a new store design introduced for Zara in locations including Liverpool and Lisbon.

The new concept includes features such as “boutique” spaces for brand-specific ranges, play areas in kids sections, and in-store cafes, as well as customer technology such as booking fitting rooms through the app, and automatic online returns.

The group has also been rolling out new security technology into its shops, including through replacing security tags with smart barcodes to streamline the buying process, reduce theft and more easily manage stock.

It said the new system will be fully operational across Zara this year.

It is also set to launch a “Zara Streaming” experience in countries including the UK, USA and Europe in the coming weeks, after successful trials in China last year.

The fashion brand has been streaming live shopping shows as part of initiatives to draw in more shoppers.