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H&M
Tagline
Net Worth
$13,860,000,000
Started in (City)
Västerås
Started in (Country)
Sweden
Incorporation Date
04th December, 1947
Bankruptcy Date
-
Founders
- Erling Persson
About
Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish multinational clothing-retail company known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers, and children. As of November 2019, H&M operates in 74 countries with over 5,000 stores under the various company brands, with 126,000 full-time equivalent positions. It is the second-largest global clothing retailer, just behind Spain-based Inditex. The company has a significant online presence, with online shopping available in 33 countries.
Founded by Erling Persson and run by his son Stefan Persson and Helena Helmersson, The success of H&M might seem to be dwindling in the future but its strong presence globally can not be ignored. It is still the go-to brand especially for millennials as it is stylish and affordable. Everyone owns H&M basics. It is like the 'Apple' of fashion.
Beginning
The company was founded by Erling Persson in 1947, when he opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden. The shop, called Hennes (Swedish for "hers"), exclusively sold women’s clothing. A store was opened in Norway in 1964. In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range and the name change to Hennes & Mauritz.
In 2008, the company announced in a press release that it would begin selling home furnishings. Initially distributed through the company’s online catalog, there are now H&M Home stores located internationally.
Following expansion in Asia and the Middle East and the launch of concept stores including COS, Weekday, Monki, and Cheap Monday, in 2009 and 2010, branding consultancy Interbrand ranked the company as the twenty-first most-valuable global brand, making it the highest-ranked retailer in the survey. Its worth was estimated at $12–16 billion. H&M operated 2,325 stores at the end of 2011, and 2,629 stores at the end of August 2012. Its 3,000th store opened in September 2013 in Chengdu, China.
Road to Success
The secret to the success of H&M, Inditex, and Forever 21 can be attributed to their “fast fashion” model. The backbone of fast fashion is its low prices, and fast fashion has also been pejoratively labeled “cheap chic,” because H&M and Zara clothes are notorious for their “disposable” quality and easy to manufacture nature.
1. Established itself as the go-to place for cheap, fast fashion
H&M sells everything you would need — classic basic pieces, swimwear, elegant clothing for a prom night with accessories and shoes to match, even lingerie and sportswear — at affordable prices.
2. Conscious, targeted, and inclusive advertising
Models with different looks, styles, cultural and ethnic backgrounds are regularly featured, to show customers that the brand focuses on all-inclusivity. For example, in their 2015 campaign called “Close
The video also features plus-size models, an amputee, and many other diverse individuals. TeenVogue praised the campaign as “showcasing an incredibly diverse group of people, each following their own fashion rules, or not following any rules at all.”
Additionally, local headquarters do ample research on what local cultural taboos are and make sure to avoid them.
3. Environmental focus with H&M Conscious
With the launch of the H&M Conscious collection, H&M pledged to make choosing sustainable options accessible and affordable to the average consumer.
4. Collaborations with luxury brands to make luxury fashion affordable
H&M generates hype through celebrity-endorsed campaigns and advertisements, that pop up on everyone’s social media feed. This keeps all eyes on the campaign, making sure that tons of WOM are generated even before the launch.
Challenges
H&M was slow to sell online
H&M’s strategy has been heavily focused on its store outlets, and this is understandable given the success the brand has enjoyed. However, it’s arguable that this focus meant that H&M was too slow to see the potential of e-commerce. H&M only started selling online in 2010, a decade after ASOS appeared. H&M has had less time to learn and improve online.
User experience needs some improvement
Fashion sites have worked hard on usability over the past few years, and many sites offer an excellent user experience, on mobile and desktop. To be competitive online, H&M needs to match and even beat its rivals for user experience. Mobile is especially important, as H&M’s target market of under 25s are heavy mobile users. H&M’s mobile site is usable, but there are a few areas for improvement. For example, the navigation is sometimes confusing.
Failures
In reviewing the latest financial results, Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M’s corporate parent, said, “The weakness was in H&M’s physical stores where the changes in customer behavior are being felt most strongly and footfall has reduced with more sales online." In order to clean up H&M’s financial mess, it needs to fix the mess at the store level, where the people that matter most experience it.
-Uninspired fashion
To put it simply H&M’s fashion supply far exceeds its demand. And while the company has been slow to migrate sales online and sees a fix in expanding its online presence, uninspired fashion isn’t going to sell any better online than it does in the stores.
-H&M stores are a mess
All the unsold product in the stores needs tending, which this recent shopper, Solange Strom, who also happens to be managing partner and co-founder at Infranext Capital and a former retail executive, tells me makes shopping there singularly unappealing.
-Fat-shaming sizes
Look magazine sent a U.K.-sized 12 (U.S. size 8) student to the store who found she couldn’t even fit into a size 16 dress there. Not only that but a standard U.K. label 12, or a European 40, is actually labeled EUR 38 at H&M which is a UK 10.
-Prices are on the rise and don't seem to be falling
Subsidies
- Monki
- Weekday
- Cheap Monday
- COS
- ARKET
CEOs
- Stefan Persson
- Karl-Johan Persson
- Helena Helmersson