Outline H&M’s product strategy Essay

Nobody immediately considers Sweden as a country well cognize for its fashion, but its Hennes & Mauritz retailer has profitably dominated the globe, with almost 1,000 stores in 20 countries. It is now Europes foremost clothing merchant, and at present appears resistive from the anguish confronting other sellers. Even though Europe is the chains domination, H&M is one of the few fashion retailers to have created a flourishing hold in the US market, with additional outlets by the end of the year, and more planned thereafter.A large deal of H&Ms exploit can be accredited to the aptitude of its internal designers, examples of piggy-backer style, swiftly acknowledging trends then acting on it, and being able to turn out patterns that look substantial much like what other expensive designers are creating. This might appear a little immoral from a fashion standpoint, but H&M supporters dont care. In fact, they some what are pleased in thinking they got one up on the head honchos of fa shion.Another important call in of H&Ms retail strategy is the stores get new merchandise daily. Much of the new stock comes through a rotation placement between stores experiencing runs on certain eminences. Sources report that H&M turns over its entire inventory a whopping eight times a year. Furthermore, they are recognized to have one of the best rotation cycles in the business, turning merchandise from drawing board to store shelves in as little as three weeks.As mentioned before, H&Ms success is its ability to quickly recognize fashion trends and get them into its product line. Its merchandise is designed by an in-house staff of more than 60 designers and is sold under more than 20 H&M labels. However, H&M doesnt own any real estate. Instead, the company believes it should concentrate all its resources on retailing. This could be problematic if the owner of the property finds a higher bidder this could force the retailer to move its business impertinent of a prime area. An other concern is that the company does not have any manufacturing facilities of its own the clothes are made in Bangladesh, China, and Turkey. Some European countries that have been known in the pastto have sweatshops filled with children laboring for hours. Once this company drives full force into the United States, it only takes one environmentalist to get wind of the manufacturing plants to begin detrimental allegations. The company would most likely deny such an accusation and might be innocent, but often corporations tangled are unaware because they buy from suppliers or brokers.Aside from these possible threats, H&M persists to make the journey across the Atlantic. However, the United States in general, and New York metropolis specifically, can be harsh terrain for European merchants, as viewed by the 1994 departure of Galeries Layfayette , the French department store chain. It is not like jumping across the line into a different European country, where the merchant can depen d on its previously developed stock network and its reputation with patrons in the states, H&M is gripping to a tiny association and is far from home. H&M will need to splurge millions of dollars to make its name identification, particularly if it anticipates competing in a city by now overflowing with discounted fashion.H&M will denounce itself contending with many American retailers. To compete productively, the company will have to project by importing large amounts of inventory to create an impression on the consumers. In the long run, considerable development will be necessary. They will regard to attain some pretty serious scale. Other challenges exclusive to the U.S. retail market include customers obsession to marked-down merchandise H&M may discover it has to open stores in factory outlet centers to move unsold products at low prices.Any of these are possibly opportunities or threats for H&M and no(prenominal) of it will be a small task in itself for the company as it m akes its voyage across the ocean. The U.S. financial decline is certain to suppress H&Ms numbers for the immediate future, although, as a discount chain, it should progress better than many, as well as its competitors. In reality, reduction in spending practices may create the exact sort of client H&M aspires to allure those looking to look as good as they looked in the boom years without the boom.www.heraldonline.com H&M Marketing Strategy.Best Managers cable Week Stefan Persson, Hennes & Mauritz New York Jan. 13 2003, pg. 63www.rachel.org Rachels Environmental Health News. Assessing Business Impacts. July 1994www.hoover.com Companies that couldnt make the voyage.