Swedish global fast-fashion retailer H&M landed on the Indian shores in the year 2015 and established itself in the country’s market over time. Strikingly, the brand has on average opened one outlet every month to reach its current count of 27 stores.
Going forward, H&M has some very ambitious plans for the Indian market.
Speaking at a business event in Mumbai recently, H&M India’s CEO and Country Manager Janne Einola stated that they will continue to expand their store network in India. The company also expects to sustain a strong growth momentum over the next two years here. “We still continue to aim to open 30 stores in the next 30 months,” reportedly underlined Einola.
The fashion company feels that the country’s market has plenty of scope and it would like to carry on the expansion spree with a similar velocity, subject to availability of suitable real estate and the right retail location.
Till now, H&M has mostly focussed on large urban centres – about 3/4th of its stores are currently located in Tier-I cities while a few can be found in Tier-II cities as well. However, the company is now sensing some opportunities even in the smaller towns of the country.
Interestingly, even as H&M is somewhat struggling around the world presently, it is on a roll in India. The brand has achieved almost a 100 per cent increase in sales in the country during December 2016 and November 2017, reaching Rs. 957 crores. (The company’s financial year runs from December 1 to November 30.)
Not just that, H&M has also leapfrogged its long-present key competitor Zara as India’s fastest-growing global fashion brand within a short span of its foray. Noticeably, H&M operates on its own as a single-brand retailer, conforming to the FDI norms, while Zara has a local partner in Tata Group’s Trent Ltd.
Furthermore, in keeping with the company’s global strategy to enhance focus on e-commerce, H&M is gearing up to roll out its own e-commerce operations in India by mid-2018. Presently, e-commerce contributes more than 10 per cent to the brand’s global revenues. In addition, the company is looking to soon launch its ‘mobile app’ to leverage the massive m-commerce opportunity in the Indian retail industry.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
