H&M Brand Report

Catherine Morgan Brand Report Level 4 Fashion Buying and Merchandising

CURRENT BRAND POSITION As a business we are one of the world’s leading fashion brands; H&M has a strong presence across the globe. As of November 2017, our group currently has 4,293 stores and 69 store markets and 45 online markets worldwide, 292 of those stores being in the United Kingdom. Also welcoming 10,000 new colleagues to the business in 2017, expanding the team to 171,000 employees globally. The H&M group sales reached SEK 232 billion at the end of the financial year in 2017. Compared to 2016 where the financial year finished on SEK 223 billion. Therefore, sales in 2017 were increased by 4% and 3% in local currencies.

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In addition to the H&M brand, we consist of five individual brands with separate concepts. The established names are COS, Weekday, Cheap Monday, Monki and & Other Stories. In 2018 approximately 360 H&M stores are planned to open and 170 closures. The main focus is the growth of store markets. With the growth of online sales, the brand are adjusting store spaces to ensure that the store portfolio is the best fit for each market.

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Current Market Position

PRICE

HIGH

The graph shows where H&M sits with its high street competitors.

H&M sits in the mid end of the graph in terms of price point, however has plenty of fashionability and trendy clothing to offer to a young consumer. Comparing to the more expensive competitors for fast fashion, but better quality in choice of materials.

LOW

FASHIONABILITY

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CUSTOMER PROFILE

As H&M has a broad customer age up to mid 50s, here we are just going to talk about our young consumer profile.

PROFILE Gender: Female Age: 17 - 35

SOCIAL-ECONOMIC

Life stage: Busy at college or university, graduate looking for first job or working part-time/fulltime.

Residential status: Living with parents, renting, student accomodation, or is a homeowner.

Martial status: Single, has a partner or newly married.

Economic status: Students or young professionals, wanting affordable yet good quality clothing.

Family: No children or has young children.

Occupation: Student, part-time or full-time work.

Education: Full time college, university or part-time course whilst working.

Geographical: Cities, villages or a suburb.

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS

Shopping, playing an instrument, enjoys novels, likes watching Netflix, rom-coms and the occasional horror film, eating-out, clubbing, going out for drinks with friends, going to festivals such as Reading & Leeds, Bestival, Isle of Wight festival. Enjoys art exhibitions, going on sun holidays and city breaks, discovering new places and reading Look, Glamour and Elle magazines. Likes keeping up with the latest fashion news and trends.

ACORN CLASSIFICATION

According to Acorn Classification research the young H&M customer fits the ‘financially stretched’ group for people who are students or educated young people in flats. Singles and couples renting flats, either privately or from a social housing provider, are often found in these urban cosmopolitan areas. Some owner occupiers might be purchasing under a shared equity scheme. A significant proportion of these flats may have been built over the past decade. Some converted flats might be registered as Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Despite there being a higher proportion with degrees and white-collar jobs most incomes are below average since these young people are at the earlier stages of their career.

Ownership of a smartphone, iPads and Android phones are well above average as well as H&M customers having laptops. They have the advantage of accessing a wide range of content but the majority will use social media on a daily basis

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GENERATION Y CHARACTERISTICS The generation born between 1980s to 1990s.

- Convenience and flexibility, matured and grown up with the advances of technology - Attract to retailers that provide their specific needs. Like to be contacted through social media - H&M quickly respond to customers who are on the go and lead busy lifestyles.

GENERATION Z CHARACTERISTICS The generation born after 1995.

- Currently, Gen Z will most likely buy items based on the lowest price, most likely because of their income if they are student or living at home.

- Gen Z customers want to have speedy deliveries e.g with the H&M club and the free delivery option. This advantages the company for more online purchasing instead of buying in store if they do not have time to try the item on.

- Turning to social media for inspiration on what to buy, for example, YouTube is great access to watch content on buying fashion or beauty products. From watching Vloggers and reading blogs, Gen Z customers are influenced and can make decisions this way.

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FASHION NEEDS

Always having a phone in our hands, H&M customers are fashion conscious, trend-led and are always looking for items that are affordable and good quality. On the other hand, those with more of a disposable income will also expect the same qualities if they are paying more for a H&M collaboration or a Conscious Exclusive collection piece. Our customers are creative individuals always looking for inspiration in how to style our garments that is individual to her. Enjoys experimenting with her style but attention to detail is a must. Therefore, always looking to Instagram as the main online source so much more so than magazines currently, as it is quick and easy access of how outfits are styled. Clothes need to be comfortable and affordable, and the H&M customer will always have the option to choose clothes that are sustainable, yet durable with a good price point.

LILY

ANNA

SUZIE

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Meet Suzie, Lily and Anna. All different personalities but all love H&M. Suzie is a conscious collection shopper, Lily LOVES H&M denim and Anna is all about the basics. They all like fashion, beauty, travelling, photography, writing their blogs and vlogging, festivals, magazines, shopping and going out with friends. They are all avid social media users and love using Instagram for visual inspiration, Facebook to catch up with friends and Snapchat but prefer Instagram stories to follow any news. For London girls, they are conscious about the environment and are on board with H&M’s recycling values and for Suzie in particular, this is important for her beliefs.

They all have one thing in common which is shopping online, as they are busy young professionals living in London and always on the move. They take advantage of their online 10% club member discount, however they like to shop on the weekend when they have the free time. All 3 girls are confident, ambitious, smart, but it has never always been that way for them, as they are young and just finding out what they want to do career wise and working in different jobs in the city. As H&M appeals to a wide range of age groups, it offers something special for everyone from early teens to late 50s, everybody can enjoy H&M to their own personal taste.

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POLITICAL - The value of the British pound dropped dramatically following the outcome of the EU Referendum vote in 2016. Making it more expensive for retailers to purchase goods from aboard. Translating into higher prices for H&M consumers.

- Tourists visiting the UK from different countries have been effected as a result of Brexit. The British pound is now worth significantly less than before the results of the Referendum in 2016. Therefore it effects us in a postive way as tourists will have more money to spend when they come to the UK as the Euro is worth more than the pound currently.

- The government is currently negotiating with the European Union in order to secure the best possible trade deal for the UK. If a strong trade deal is secured then we shouldn’t be affected, however, if a weak deal is negotiated we and other organisations will have to review their import/export policies as shipping merchandise to the UK could become more expensive.

SOCIAL

- As products are produced by independent suppliers in developing countries, we ensure that supply workers are earning a fair living wage and working in suitable conditions. With that said, we are the only company to have implemented a strategy for fair living wages e.g the H&M Foundation.

- Giving our customers a full insight on our website into what materials we use to make our Conscious Exclusive collection pieces.

- Recycling clothes hit stores worldwide in 2013, encouraging customers to recycle their old clothes. Resulting in 55,000 tonnes of garments to give new life. Up to 20% of a garment can contain recycled fibres.

- We have a sustainable strategy in place for the next 20-30 years, enabling the brand to use resources in a sustainable way. By 2020 we aim to use only 100% sustainable cotton.

ECONOMIC

Pest Analysis

- The fourth quarter of 2017 was significantly below our financial expectations, resulting in a sales decrease of 4% from the previous quarter. This concluded in a substantial amount of clearance sales in the first quarter of 2018. Combined with the clearance sales and cold weather, our group’s overall online sales figures increased by 20%.

However, net sales were unchanged in the first quarter of 2018 as we ended on SEK 54 billion which is the same figure as the first quarter of 2017.

- H&M group are planning to close a total of 170 stores in 2018, therefore this will contribute to unemployment rates - an increasing area that has risen since the Brexit vote. The rate currently stands at 4.4% in the UK. - At present, the weaker US dollar is having a favourable impact on purchasing costs, as our vision is to only use recycled or sustainably-sourced materials.

TECHNOLOGICAL - As consumers are growing more curious, as well as more impatient, online spending is rapidily rising. As of 2018, 88% of consumers are willing to pay for same day/faster delivery. Social media was the #1 choice when asked where respondents went online to get inspiration for purchases.

- On the App Store we have 2 out of 5 stars as customers are saying that the app keeps freezing/logging them out, improvements can be made here.

- Mobile technology and internet accessibility enhances secrurity, choice and convenience for customers. For example, the new Instagram update allows the public now to tap a photo and be linked to the shopping page via image. This is a way for us to expand our digital growth. e.g how clothing is styled in Instagram images to achieve a wide range appeal.

- We are currently working on technological solutions which are needed to be able to fully reuse and recycle all textile fibre given into stores. By engaging with customers to be more sustainable, it changes their behaviour towards disposing of clothes.

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STRENGTHS

- We are the second largest retailer in the world to Zara, our success is based on how well we know our customer profile, but we always have room to improve for future strategies. Our goal is to always offer the best price for clothing but in a sustainable way.

- Launching new brands e.g Arket to attract a different customer.

- Since 2004, we have had many designer collaborations which appeal to H&M’s wide demographic of customers e.g Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander Wang, Erdem and many more. These collections sell out within hours due to high demand and the need for customers to ‘must have’ the latest H&M items.

- Known for fast-fashion and we have kept that reputation.

- We pride ourselves in our strong marketing across our digital channels and using actresses who are in the spotlight right now.

For example, the Spring 2018 ad campaign features Winona Ryder who played Joyce Buyers in the successful Netflix original ‘Stranger Things’.

OPPORTUNITIES - We bring out the Conscious Exclusive collection each year which offer basic sustainable fashion garments. Using organic and recycled materials where possible, this way we are promoting to our customers about vision and environmentally friendly pieces. We have also just brought out our wedding range, which is an opportunity for us to bring you affordable dresses without breaking the bank.

- Increase in consumer spending in the US would benefit the company to enhance its performance. With 360 stores opening, constant fuel on expansion can fuel our profitability.

- Looking at ways to continuously expand digital platforms and keeping up with digital updates (E.g the new Instagram shopping tool) and improving the H&M aesthetic with each update. With these advances we can think about how they want to translate new technology updates into physical stores and communicating them with customers.

WEAKNESSES

Swot Analysis

- The crucial weakness that we have faced is poor sales in the first quarter of 2018 due to the poor weather conditions. As customer behaviours have changed and footfall has reduced with more sales online.

- Our increasing inventory can be a reflection of ineffective buying.

- Ensuring that the right product put out in stores are meeting the needs of the customer. As in the first quarter of this year, we had a lot of markdowns and promotions. In hindsight, this is uninspiring and stock being messily displayed in stores can be hard to shop.

- Plenty of controversy around our small sizing especially around trousers and jeans. As women are expressing their views online and feel fat shamed and demand H&M to be honest about our sizing.

- We have around 790 independent suppliers, therefore we have lower control over production. As a result, lack of direct control over the manufacturing process and no assurance of continued supply puts H&M in a vulnerable position if there is any quality issues in the sourced merchandise.

THREATS

- The convenience of online shopping is a huge threat to H&M currently, fast-fashion brands such as ASOS and Boohoo which are our online competitors - are thriving in their market right now. We are all in competition with each other and each company has to be aware to be able to keep up with the latest movements and trends.

- Evolving fashion trends, supplying the merchandise in the right volumes.

E.g the right mix of the latest trends alongside H&M fashion basics.

- A risk of foreign exchange fluctuations is in place as most of our sales come from developed countries such as Europe and the US. The foreign exchange rate can affect the overall profitability of the business.

- Due to struggles in the world climate, by 2040 there could be a possibility we do not reach our sustainability goals. However, we know as a business that there is a significant journey ahead for change.

- In January 2018 we were faced with backlash over the ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ hoodie. ‘Monkey’ used to describe a black person. As a result stores were vandalized by protestors in South Africa and stores were temporarily shut.

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PRICE

Marketing Strategies

- Price-wise we are placed in the mid-range to our competitors, we are a higher price point than Primark, but not as expensive as Urban Outfitters. For example, dresses can be between £8 and £90 unless you purchase a H&M collaboration, then you are spending extra money on a more special item.

- As H&M have reasonable prices, it is not too expensive for consumers with a lower income. Our customer profile expands from young teenagers to mature adults as we have a wide range of products to fit everybody’s needs in day to day life. Especially maternity wear, sportswear, basic items and plus size ranges.

- H&M homeware and beauty products are also as affordable as the clothing. This is enticing to customers to spend less in H&M on affordable home products for people that are young working professionals moving into their first home that are on a budget. In the same way as a female customer that for example likes higher end beauty products but can’t afford them each month, and would rather spend on H&M beauty if it works to her taste.

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Notable H&M collaborations

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H H O & M M E catherine Morgan

PRODUCT - H&M caters for people of most ages and also a lot of lifestyles. Having a broad product portfolio, we offer fashion apparel, cosmetics, accessories and shoes for women, men, teenagers and children.

- On the H&M website it has a section called ‘campaigns’ where customers are able to easily shop by the latest products from adverts. The campaigns section contains several sub pages with both enticing and positive titles designed to provide customers with inspiration whilst browsing on our website. E.g ‘Dancing Days, Denim Delights, Sunshine Essentials, Pop Heart’ etc.

The new Instagram shopping feature, customers can click on the links and be directed to the shopping page to buy. 500 million users log into Instagram everyday and is the tool for business growth. As everything on Instagram is visual, this is a great tool for customers purchasing without leaving the app. The opportunity to drive sales with the tool will hugely increase with minimal effort.

- #HMxME hashtag on Instagram shares images of customers wearing H&M products, the hashtag is also on the website, therefore if you are not on Instagram, you can still see how a item you are looking to purchase looks on a real person.

2018 Conscious Exclusive Collection

- As well as offering the Conscious collection which is affordable basic products. We also have a Conscious Exclusive collection which are more premium pieces. As for sustainable innovation, our latest products are made out of discarded candlesticks, fishnets, nylon, recycled silver & polyester and organic tencel.

- With launching our Wedding dress collection we have created a dupe for Kate Middleton’s wedding dress for £150 to give customers a ‘designer-esque’ style dress.

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DENIM DELIGHTS

POP HEART

The Wedding Shop

STREET SESSIONS

Sunshine Essentials catherine Morgan

PLACE - In the United Kingdom we have 286 stores, and the first store opened in 1976, therefore we in the UK are renowned for our affordable products across UK cities.

- Our London flagship store on Oxford Street is in a prime location, and thousands of tourists are visiting a year as they can purchase items cheaper. We also have stores throughout London shopping centres such as Brent Cross and Westfield stores. Our store expansion in Westfield Shepherd’s Bush opened in March 2018 as part of Westfield’s £600m expansion.

- Our largest markets in the world are Germany with 461 stores, China with 513 stores and the US with the biggest of 543 stores.

- H&M’s main focus at the moment is expanding more online stores outside of Europe. In India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Uruguay and Ukraine are also opening plans for later on this year.

- As a tough start to the year for sales, we can focus on how to create an in-store atmosphere within stores as our online presence has increased by 20% compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

New expansion on Westfield Shepherd’s Bush - March 2018

- As a business, we have the opportunity to have beauty bars, music, events, food and drink. As Topshop Oxford Circus has these elements that make their store busy and keep customers interested. However, the expansion in the Westfield store has launched a nail bar, which means development in this area for stores is taking place and improving the customer experience.

- By visiting the new expansion, it is currently the only H&M globally that has a nail bar for their customers. If you would like a treatment, it is 20% off on your first visit!

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PEOPLE

- As H&M do not have a niche customer, we have plenty of opportunities to do more as a company. Such as offering basic items to more exclusive collections, but keeping in mind people who want to keep up with the trends.

- Key people in the business includes Erling Persson who H&M was founded by. H&M was then passed onto his son Stefan Persson who is the main shareholder and owns 29% of H&M. His sister Lottie Tham who is the second largest shareholder owns 5%. Stefan’s son Karl-Johan Persson was appointed CEO in 2009 and his vision for the future is the progress and importance of sustainability for the future of retail.

- We have 34 million followers on Facebook and 24.9 million on Instagram, with keeping the young consumer in mind social media allows people to view products and purchase instantly from their phone. With the new Instagram shopping update, hashtags and product styled images. This will increase online sales even more so, but baring in mind those customers who still want to come back to shop at stores if they do not like online shopping.

“H&M aims to be at the forefront within the fashion industry on the social side and on the environmental side. We do not want to do the minimum but to be at the forefront innovating and leading positive change.�

2018 Spring Campaign

- H&M should always ensure that they are hiring the right people to represent the brand image and protect its reputation. As good customer service goes a long way.

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PROMOTION - If you want your items delivered to your home standard delivery is £3.99 and £5.99 for next day delivery. However, delivery is free if you are a H&M club member, you receive 10% off in-store or online the day you sign up. Meaning that H&M loyal customers will keep coming back to use the free delivery service.

- Regular sales in store and online throughout the year, e.g further reduction, January and high summer sale then towards the end of the year mid season and end of season sales.

- H&M for the Black Friday sale were offering 20% in 2017, before Christmas this is a chance to create huge revenue overall for the business.

Customers queuing for the Erdem X H&M launch in June 2017

- An opportunity online to choose an e-gift card which you can personalise yourself and add a personal message, rather than going into store depending on preference.

- Always offer online promotions for the week. For example, ‘The Printed Trouser from £12.99’ and ‘The Weekly Treat now at £9.99’

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- Customers can follow H&M’s magazine to read ‘Editor’s Picks’ for style inspiration and beauty articles e.g ‘Holographic lipgloss - our newest beauty obsession’.

HMxME hashtag not only on Instagram but also on the H&M website where our customers can show off their favourite looks.

- Facebook sponsored adverts promoted on the home page with the latest products, highly engaging and fast click for customers as images are styled as an outfit.

“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men, but their time is up” - Oprah Winfrey Winona Ryder in the Spring Summer campaign 2018 film

- Female empowerment in our latest 2018 campaign featuring Winona Ryder and Elizabeth Olsen celebrates female empowerment and solidarity. Since the Times Up campaign and Oprah Winfrey’s speech at the Golden Globes in January 2018. It was a message many women could relate to. H&M have translated this powerful message through the film.

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INSTAGRAM STORIES

Instagram stories on our profile currently show ‘The power of style’, editors picks, conscious collection pieces, images from the Pop Heart campaign, new arrivals and spring fashion. Instagram stories is a new, exciting, innovative and effective way of communicating our products with our customers and to engage quick and easy interest with added fun behind it all. With our H&M aesthetic and strong online presence, our customers then grow with us when it comes to technological updates, particularly on Instagram.

“I loved the way that the campaign really celebrated women in a very authentic way, I found that very refreshing and much needed right now.”

‘Spring Fashion’ on our Instagram stories lets our customers view our behind the scenes footage of our Spring Summer 2018 campaign and a direct shopping link to our website.

Power of Style Instagram story examples

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MARKET POSITION

brand summary

- Mid-market offering trend led fashion with a quality and sustainable price tag.

- Offering clothes that suit every customer lifestyle within their demographic.

- H&M Group at present is making most of its sales online as in 2017 their online sales for the year were £3.6 billion and its other brands such as & Other Stories, Arket, Cheap Monday, Weekday, Monki and COS have contributed towards this.

TARGET MARKET

- Offering clothing, beauty, homeware and accessories for all ages. The stores are mainly dominated by womens clothing. With mid-range prices, H&M targets customers who are students and young professionals, in our advantage H&M has a broad target market e.g Women 18-50, Men 18-35, Teenagers 14-19.

PRICING

- Mid-range, universal appeal.

PRODUCTS

- Wide range in womenswear, menswear, kids wear and homeware. Offer ‘premium quality’ and ‘conscious collections’ and splitting their products on the website by having a ‘shop by concept’ section. E.g basics, sportswear, trend, modern classic, denim etc. The sub page ideas also translate to their homeware section to give their customer interior style ideas.

COMPETITORS

- With fierce competition from all sides, market and price position wise H&M’s direct competitor is Zara and faces cheaper competition from Primark. Online brands ASOS and Boohoo.com in both price and fashionability are becoming more appealing to customers, therefore H&M have to continuously promote via social media and persuade target buyers to continually update their wardrobe.

STORE LOCATIONS

- H&M has 220 stores planning to open in 2018, 45 of those stores will have H&M Home and 90 of the stores will consist of the brands of COS, & Other Stories, Monki, Weekday, Arket and H&M’s new brand Afound which will be selling discounted fashion and lifestyle products.

STORE PRESENCE

- In the London stores H&M could improve on the customer experience by having less sale out during peak trading periods and concentrating more on having high standards. There needs to be specific merchandising planning so rails are not crammed together and making it difficult for the customer to shop. However it does depend on the grading of the store and the location as different stores vary in sizing and shape, but definitely room for improvement here as some H&M stores are more difficult to shop at than others.

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DIGITAL

- H&M excel on their digital presence. They have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube, H&M Magazine and blog entries you can view on the website. Especially on their sustainability collections. Instagram is excellent for their customer growth, as mentioned with the shopping update and their Instagram stories. For example, the brand as of April 2018 announced their collaboration with designer Moschino. They did it in an Instagram live stream with Gigi Hadid, keeping customers excited and named it ‘their biggest secret of the year’.

Following this they created a hashtag called ‘HMOSCHINO’ so people can post their thoughts on the collaboration. This is positive growth for the brand as they are constantly posting on Instagram their latest collections with hashtags. e.g #HMConsciousExclusive, #HMMan, #HMKids, #HMStudio etc.

TO CONCLUDE...

...this report, H&M is still a thriving brand on the high street. However, the first quarter of the year took a tough turn on the group as the weather had a negative impact which meant more clearance sales with a substantial amount of markdowns, which meant they were forced into discontinuing more products as profits fell by 62%. As online sales have risen by 20%, the shares have fallen by 6.4% as more customers turn to online. An excessive increase of stock means markdowns will continue to be higher as they accumlated 3+ billion pounds worth of stock.

What makes H&M stand out on the high street is adapting to the digital advantages in the fashion retail industry and the constant drive for sustainable change, by considering the needs of present and future generations. H&M have proven in this report that they can adapt to the competition of retail, as their pledge is to constantly grow on their sustainable collections, keeping low cost and encourage their customers alongside this to recycle their clothes. To be connected to the customer is one of H&M’s many qualities, as previously said, their promotion over social media e.g Instagram stories is a quick way for customers to look at a styled item and make a conscious decision that way, this is extremely beneficial for the future of retail, as customers are viewing items on their phone in a fun yet straight forward way. Many could say this is why brands such as Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser, New Look and Next are struggling retailers and fail to keep up with the digital innovations and lack of thought to collaborate with designers or celebrities. How else can they promote their message, who is their customer? is one that is getting lost with the fierce competition. As H&M Group expands with its new brands (COS, Cheap Monday, Monki, & Other Stories, Weekday and Arket) this is another advantage for growth and expansion through H&M’s existing customers who may not of heard of these brands before. Some of these brands may target a different type of customer, for example, COS and & Other Stories are on the high-end of the highstreet and may not necessarily target H&M customers. H&M is a brand who strive on knowing who their customer is, they have an item for everybody covering all ages, and that is part of their success, but most importantly, delivering fast fashion at a quality price and to make you feel the best version of yourself.

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Ft.com. (2018). Hennes & Mauritz faces up to challenge of online competitors. [online] https://www.ft.com/content/1ff300c6-f4da-11e6-8758-6876151821a6

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catherine Morgan