In its bid to expand customer base in India, H&M launches online store

Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), on Thursday, launched its online store in India to accelerate its growth further. The online store will help the company to reach out to most pincodes in the country and expand its customer base.
 
Its competitors, such as Zara, also have online platforms. Marks and Spencer has its own online store. It sells products on Amazon India as well. The company said that HM.com would be the same as its global counterpart and would not be sold on any other marketplace. Delhivery and Blue Dart are handling the logistics. The company has set up a warehouse, for its online platform, in Mumbai.
 
The company said it was bringing its full product range to customers in India. HM.com will offer a wider range of collections with exclusive 'online-only' pieces available throughout the year. “India will be the 45th global market where H&M has started online stores,” said Janne Einola, H&M India country manager.
 
At present, H&M has 29 stores in 12 cities. Einola said H&M has introduced the scan-and-buy feature, that allows customers to buy products online, if the appropriate size is unavailable in physical stores.
 
“Globally, the share of online sales is 12.5 per cent of the overall sales,” Einola said. He added that H&M was venturing on its own and was not getting into any e-commerce marketplace.
 
The company said while they would have discounts on the platform, it would not be their main strategy. “We will have discounts but it is not how we drive the business. We will follow the same strategy we follow in our stores. However, if there is a special need, we can have a different approach. There would be end-of-season sales, which happen offline as well,” Einola said.
 
The company does not plan to be a part of any marketplace except China, where they are experimenting with T-Mall. “How that works for us might change things in future, but we do not plan to enter through any marketplace,” Einola added