With the opening of H&M’s flagship store on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai, a new chapter for H&M in the Chinese market will also slowly unfold.
After nearly 20 years of accumulation, H&M has established a highly influential brand image in the Chinese market, continuously building a lasting driving force for its own growth through product diversification, brand awareness, and consumer loyalty. Next, H&M will continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market with a renewed attitude, continuously enhance brand influence, and further consolidate and expand market share.
(‘Image: H& amp; after the upgrade and upgrade; M Shanghai Nanjing East Road Flagship Store’,)
Brand renewal and upgrading, further elevating the fashion shopping experience
On May 9th, H&M’s flagship store located at Yuehui Plaza on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai opened grandly. This new opening not only brings consumers more trendy, high-quality, and cost-effective fashion products, but also marks a new chapter of development for H&M’s business in China.
(‘Image: H& On site of the ribbon cutting ceremony at the flagship store of M Shanghai Nanjing East Road’,)
(‘Image: Government leaders from Huangpu District, Shanghai attend the opening ceremony’,)
The upgraded store provides consumers with a brand new shopping experience with a highly fashionable and open scene design. The store has abandoned the previously enclosed walls and instead adopted more transparent floor to ceiling display windows, while creating a highly visually appealing display layout; Paired with soft lighting and oversized floor mirrors, it provides an ideal selfie check-in point for trendy individuals. Not only that, the comfortable rest area also adds a leisurely and enjoyable shopping experience for customers who come to the store.
(‘Image: H& New Image of M Shanghai Nanjing East Road Flagship Store’,)
Meanwhile, as a major highlight of the new store opening, H&M’s latest H&M Studio vacation capsule series and H&M Summer Selection series will also make their debut; In addition, there is a diverse range of the latest trendy fashion items, providing consumers with a diverse range of product choices. On the opening day, many consumers gathered to check in and experience the latest store image of H&M, experiencing it firsthand.
(‘Image: H& M Studio Vacation Capsule Series’,)
Since entering the Chinese market in 2007, H&M has always regarded China as a very important market. In 2023, Mr. Saed El Achkar, the newly appointed President of H&M Group Retail Greater China, continued to implement the brand’s omnichannel strategy, deeply integrating online and offline channels, and further providing consumers with a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.
With the continuous digital transformation of the fashion retail industry, consumer shopping habits have also undergone changes. However, offline stores are still an important link for consumers to touch on the brand and experience brand culture. H&M not only actively explores the online market, but also continues to invest heavily in offline stores. Since 2024, H&M has completed the upgrading and renovation of three stores located in three cities: from the Chengdu Heshenghui store, to the Beijing Hyatt Plaza store, and then to the Shaoxing Yintai City store. Multiple stores have been redesigned, aiming to provide consumers with a better offline shopping experience.
In addition, in terms of online channel expansion, H&M’s online retail map in China has covered multiple e-commerce platforms, including H&M’s official website, App, WeChat mini program, Tmall, and JD.com, aiming to establish a sales network that covers all channels and multiple scenarios. It is worth noting that the H&M official website and independent apps have cultivated a group of loyal customers, which is also an important source of its online sales. At present, H&M China has over 30 million omnichannel members. Members can not only participate in point redemption and enjoy special discounts, but also participate in irregular marketing activities organized by the brand, such as priority previews and offline pre orders for the H&M Studio series and annual designer collaboration series, which have invited multiple members to participate. In the future, H&M plans to expand its digital influence by entering more suitable e-commerce platforms to meet the growing fashion shopping needs of Chinese consumers.
It can be said that the omnichannel transformation has effectively enhanced H&M’s brand awareness and image in the Chinese market. Through the comprehensive and multi-level upgrading of online and offline business, H&M has created a smoother and more comfortable seamless shopping experience for consumers, further consolidating its position in the minds of consumers and enhancing membership stickiness.
Based on the positive performance in the Chinese market in the first quarter, H&M has observed good sales growth opportunities in both physical stores and digital channels. Looking ahead to the future, Mr. Si Yide, President of H&M Group’s Retail Greater China region, stated in an interview that “H&M has always regarded China as a very important market. H&M adheres to its business philosophy of valuing the Chinese market and is committed to providing fashion and quality to Chinese consumers at favorable prices and in a sustainable manner.”.
(‘Image: H& Mr. Saed El Achkar, President of M Group Retail Greater China’,)
Strive to create better products that combine cost-effectiveness and fashion sense
In the post pandemic era, the mild recovery of the consumer environment has witnessed consumers returning to rationality and placing greater emphasis on cost-effectiveness; At the same time, consumers have not given up their pursuit of fashion and individuality, but have increasingly valued personalized expression through clothing matching. It is precisely the brand philosophy that H&M has always adhered to, which is to provide fashion and quality in a sustainable way and at competitive prices.
In H&M’s view, fashion should serve the public; Therefore, on the one hand, H&M insists on providing more value to customers, and on the other hand, they still choose to maintain favorable prices. On this basis, in order to launch more fashionable and trendy products that can better meet the preferences of Chinese consumers, H&M has made innovations in several aspects?
Product design is crucial for fashion brands, especially for H&M. In order to better align with localized fashion styles, H&M established a new China Design Center at the end of 2022, aiming to provide Chinese consumers with products that are both in line with local market fashion styles and of high quality, and to supplement global product categories. This not only enhances the fashion of the product, but also makes it more in line with the needs and expectations of Chinese consumers.
The team of H&M China Design Center is mainly composed of Chinese experts from the fields of design, sampling, and production. With the strong productivity of Chinese production partners and the customized design of design centers, H&M has the ability to provide Chinese consumers with local fashion products that better showcase the combination of cutting-edge fashion and Chinese trends.
For example, the Chinese New Year series jointly launched by H&M and Chinese artist Yang Wan is a successful attempt at local design. This series made its debut at the China International Import Expo in 2023 and was widely welcomed by fashion media and consumers. It is reported that H&M will continue to improve the localization design of its products and plans to collaborate with Shanghai Fashion Week to launch a new local designer collaboration series in the second half of 2024. Taking this cooperation as a new opportunity, H&M looks forward to working hand in hand with Shanghai Fashion Week, integrating cutting-edge design and creativity, diversified business channels, and other types of fashion industry resources, calling for more attention and support for the power of contemporary Chinese fashion, while implementing the brand’s concept of sustainable fashion.
Product quality is the core that H&M has always adhered to. H&M has always adhered to the unremitting pursuit of quality and is committed to providing consumers with high-quality and sustainable fashion products through continuous improvement and iteration of fabric selection and process design. The past H&M environmental pioneer series, H&M newborn series, and children’s clothing series using Coolmax technology fabrics have not only brought comfort to consumers, but also deeply confirmed H&M’s consistent commitment to high product quality standards.
Capturing the latest consumer trends and continuously deepening the layout of the Chinese market
China is one of the largest consumer markets in the world, with huge market potential and consumer groups. As a result, there is an increasing consumption power, especially for the current middle class and the younger generation. This provides broad market opportunities for H&M.
Regarding H&M’s future development plans in the Chinese market, Si Yide stated, “H&M has always regarded China as a very important market. H&M adheres to its business philosophy of valuing the Chinese market and is committed to providing fashion and quality to Chinese consumers at favorable prices and in a sustainable manner. We will continue to expand H&M’s retail presence in China by upgrading our offline stores and exploring more digital channels, providing seamless omnichannel shopping experiences for Chinese consumers.”
Specifically, Si Yide stated that in terms of products, H&M will continue to provide industry-leading and diversified product categories, and fully promote H&M’s business philosophy and product categories in both offline and online sales channels; In terms of brand, H&M will strengthen its fashion brand label by showcasing its fashion influence and fashion awareness; In terms of consumer experience, we are committed to providing exciting shopping experiences, competitive convenience services, and member loyalty to further stimulate the potential of customers to purchase products.
For many years, the Chinese market has provided many opportunities for the development of H&M brands, and the connection between Shanghai and H&M is not shallow.
In the 1980s, H&M entered Shanghai and established a procurement office; In 2007, H&M opened its first store in mainland China in Shanghai, officially entering the Chinese market; Last year, H&M’s Greater China retail office headquarters relocated to Shanghai. “We firmly believe that Shanghai will become the creative and commercial center for H&M’s future development in the Chinese market. Since H&M entered Shanghai, the Huangpu District Government and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce have always provided H&M with a favorable development environment and other support. H&M sincerely thanks them for their support and assistance. The grand opening of H&M’s flagship store on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai also marks our commitment to bringing consumers more trendy, high-quality, and cost-effective fashion products, and bringing high-quality shopping experiences to Chinese consumers, including Shanghai,” said Si Yide.
In the nearly 20 years since its official entry into the Chinese market, H&M has witnessed the rapid development of the Chinese economy and the huge improvement of consumption levels. At the same time, it has continued to focus on designing and launching personalized and localized fashion product categories to meet the increasingly diversified fashion consumption needs of Chinese consumers. On this basis, H&M is expected to continue providing high-quality products and services to Chinese consumers, and continuously enhance brand influence and play a greater role in leading innovative changes in the fashion industry.