How Hennes & Mauritz outran its rivals on the street

The Swedish fashion-retail brand cracks open the Indian market faster than its competitors

When Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) opened its first store in New Delhi in October 2015, many wrote it off for having delayed entry into a market that was already flush with global labels. Zara, Gap, Marks &Spencer and Forever 21 had beaten the Swedish fashion major by quite a few years. However, H&M hit the ground running, opening up nearly a store a month since the first month and posting a net profit of Rs 1.4 crore in the six-month period of October 2016-March 2017. While this makes it the fastest among international fashion chains to get profitable in the