H&M offers fashion apparel while maintaining a focus on low prices. The company has more than 1069 stores spread across 21 countries. All H&M stores are owned and solely run by H&M. The company has approximately a hundred designers who work with a team made up of 55 pattern designers, about 100 buyers and a number of budget controllers to create H&M's clothing collections for women, men, children and teenagers.
The company offers a range of fashion apparel divided into different concepts. The range covers everything from classics and basic to clothes that reflect international trends. It also includes underwear, sportswear, accessories and cosmetics.
The largest department is women's wear, followed by children's wear, teenage fashion and men's wear. The majority of H&M stores are full-range stores, but the company also has concept stores offering garments solely for women, men, teenagers or children; and stores that sell only cosmetics, lingerie and accessories. In the women's wear department there are five different concepts. The L.O.G.G. brand covers high end fashion garments. L.O.G.G. Sport comprises sportswear and leisurewear, both for general outdoor use and for specific sports activities. For plus size women there is BiB, which offers both trendy garments and functional basics. For the mothers-to-be there is Mama. H&M also offers a range of lingerie and nightwear. Each concept in the women's range offers accessories such as jewellery, belts, bags, sunglasses, scarves and hats. The range also includes socks, tights and swimwear.
[...] Global strategy The company's ethos is about providing fashion and quality at unbeatable prices. H&M runs a tight ship and its expansion strategy is managed efficiently and carefully, typically building in regions where there is already a base. So we can say that H&M have a transnational strategy: - Units coordinate their activities with HQ (in Stockholm) and with one other: global network. - Units in various countries may adapt to special circumstances only they face: “Think global, act local” (USA and China example). [...]
[...] At the beginning of the implantation, they wanted to apply an ethnocentrism strategy as they did in Europe and in particular in Germany and others Scandinavian countries. But European market is special. Americans have not the same way of life. American consumers prefer specialized shop (men, women and children products ranges have to be located in different shops). A lot of examples show that American market and the European one are very different. That is why you cannot run the same business plan in these two regions of the world. [...]
[...] The American workers do not work as Europeans, they are not as flexible as in Europe and they have to specialize too. They prefer to know a range very well and to help just one part of the customers, than to know the entire product and to be able to move in all the mall stores. H&M tried to change the American sellers way of working of, they pay them formation in Sweden and in Germany to teach them the approach of H&M but it did not work. [...]
[...] It could be a problem for there strategy is working alone. In there expansion, they never work with a franchise. But they can change it. For example, they decide to enter on the Arabian market. To enter in this market, they decide to franchise their shops. To enter in China, rules seem the same. H&M should change a little his strategy to come in this market. The Chinese government wants a strong economy. They are ready to welcome new investments. [...]
[...] Gap is actually on the decrease, but Zara is a real competitor with a different strategy of H&M. effectively, they made all the production in Spain. For a logistic point of view this strategy is completely different. To enter on a new market is very special, each market has its own identity and the customers have their own feeling and habits of consumption. Maybe the people are waiting different clothes, the advertisings can't be the same and the stores have to purpose a specific offer for each country (e.g. [...]
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