”Offering fashion and quality at the best price”

Hello, I am Emily, an H&M T-shirt, and now it’s my turn to tell you the story of my home-company.

H&M is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing clothing retailers, a pioneer of “fast fashion”. The first H&M shop in France was opened on 25/02/1998 in Paris, Rue de Rivoli. Now there are 186 H&M shops and 5500 employees in France.

 v  To us, design, quality and sustainability are not a question of price: we should always be an inspiration of fashion with unbeatable value for money. 

Quality is a central topic, from initial idea to final product.

We ensure the best price by:

 §  in-house design

 §  no middlemen

 §  large purchasing volumes

 §  buying the right products from the right markets

 § efficient logistics

 § cost-consciousness in all parts of the organisation

 v  Reduction of a middle man who buys the material for the company and sells the material for a higher margin: H&M buys their apparel fabrics in bulk straight from the suppliers - it outsources the labour-intense production of its products to independent manufacturers in countries like China and Turkey.

 v  The company renews its store inventory daily. Key store element’s like windows are changed every 10 – 14 days and every 3 years a completely new interior design is implemented for stores in key markets. H&M’s purchasing depends on what sells well and what the market situation looks like. A fashion year is divided into spring/summer and fall/winter. Fashion that sells in high volumes is ordered about six months in advance; however, the trendiest clothes must reach the stores within just a few weeks → steady flow of customers.

 v  Target market— lower-income target group of women, particularly those in younger age groups, who purchase fashion at a high frequency. By maintaining efficiency and flexibility throughout its supply chain, H&M is able to respond quickly to changes in fashion trends.

 v Although H&M is inexpensive and accessible, that doesn’t mean their audience eschews expensive, exclusive clothing. With inclusive content and regular in-store collaborations with high-end designers like Maison Martin Margiela and Isabel Marant, H&M positions its brand as one with overarching style.

     Here is an advertising campaign of the partnership with designer Alexander Wang which has been launched this October. New York base fashion designer Alexander Wang has firmly established his brand by perpetually evolving and re-contextualizing the urban uniform, since his collections were launched on the runway in 2007. Alexander Wang's core sensibility is a reflection on wearable contrasts, blending seamlessly between the refined and the imperfect. The collection will be available in selected H&M stores worldwide and online 6 November 2014.
     So when you watch that striking advertisement, you think of H&M as of something very trendy and fashionable. Such collaborations help H&M to reinforce the company’s brand and image.

 v  H&M’s financial performance over the past five years has been impressive. Sales and earnings of the company on the global market have increased robustly, thus enabling the company to pursue growth opportunities and to finance expansion. Growth has also provided the funds for heavy brand promotion. Such promotion has driven sales further, thereby creating a virtuous circle. 

Hope you enjoyed my story about my home-company H&M. If you have any questions, I am here to answer them J

Yours sincerely, Emily. 

Sources:
https://www.textilesintelligence.com/tistoi/index.cfm?pageid=3&repid=TISTOI&issueid=130&artid=1334
http://about.hm.com/en/About/facts-about-hm/about-hm/business-concept.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvBNkOFaSZk