[MUSIC] Hello, we have the pleasure of having here with us today Eduardo Zamacola. He is the CEO of Neck & Neck, this nice store that we are in. And he's also the president of a trade association called ACOTEX. [MUSIC] Could you tell us what ACOTEX is and your role in ACOTEX? >> Well ACOTEX is the Spanish Retail Trade Association, the most important one. And I consider right now we are representing 800 companies, more than 9000 stores all over Spain, and over 80,000 employees. And right now I think it's the most representative association in Spain. We got the honor to represent them into all the institutions. >> What do you think are the main developments in retail at this moment? >> Well, I think, right now, we have to follow what the big ones are doing. I think it's our goal for the smallest ones is to follow the best practices everyone has, the big companies have, and try to develop them into our small companies and try to follow what they're doing and do it the best we can so we can follow as closely as possible. >> What type of companies are successful today? I mean, what type of characteristics do they have? >> Well, I think the most important thing is, as I said, is to follow the best practices, but I would say that first of all you have to know very well, who your client is. How's the behavior of your client. And how can you adapt, and how can you get in touch with them, how you communicate with them. The second thing I think is very important is the digitalization of the companies. Nowadays we have to be very present in the social networks. Our small shops have to have the, all these online stores. Or the applications for mobiles. So we have to be very in touch with our client. And the third goal and third thing that I would say is very important is that we have to start thinking about fast fashion. Okay, small companies, we are not able to produce the garments in the way the big ones do. We only have, every six months have big production and we bring to the stores. And the client, when he comes to the store, once he comes, he sees the whole collection. I think we have to try to move the merchandise, we have to move the garments much quicker. Every week or two weeks we have new garments coming in to the shop, so the client will know whether something happened here, and let's see what's in the store. >> And the consumer that is evolving so much, and is asking so much from all the retailers. Do we really know the consumer? >> Well, I would say the very next future because nobody thought two years ago- >> That's true. >> That we will be talking about all this- >> That's true, yeah. >> But right now I think that every company has to be very compromising with the client, has to be very compromising with communication with the client and to know as much as possible about the behavior of a client. I would say that digitalization of the companies is very important. Companies that don't have an online store or application or it's not present in the social networks, you have to be careful about being present in the social network because I mean, we have, You can make big, big mistakes, that could be a huge problem for the company. >> Problem for the company, exactly. So, you have to be careful, you have to, I would say, be in contact with experts who can help you to develop all these communications, and those are the most important figures I would say. >> And just to finalize, when we talk about retail there is always passion. Why do you think it's so when it's a sector that is full of ups and downs? >> Well those ups and downs, I think that's what really teaches us. It's what makes us a be so passionate about this fashion business. >> Mm-hm. >> We cannot forget that Spain has been a very important country for fashion for decades. We have always been very, every year we follow very closely the trends. We follow in our houses, our mothers. They used to make clothes for babies and all that. So that's something that is in the DNA of every Spanish person. So I think those mixture of these ups and downs and the DNA that we have is what makes us so passionate about this business. >> So you like challenge, no. >> Exactly. Okay, I want to thank you Eduardo, it's been a pleasure, we have learned a lot. How important it is to adapt, to this evolving world, that we really need to know the consumer, and that we are in the digitalization era. So we need to be into technology. I hope to see you soon. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [MUSIC]
