Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB in Retailing

December 2009

Scope of the Report

Retailing - Hennes & Mauritz

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Scope
• This global company profile covers the following products focusing on the year 2009:

Retailing: US$10,430 billion

Store-based Retailing: US$9,829 billion

Non-Store Retailing: US$601 billion

Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers: US$791 billion

Homeshopping: US$190 billion

Internet Retailing: US$243 billion

Disclaimer Much of the information in this briefing is of a statistical nature and, while every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy and reliability, Euromonitor International cannot be held responsible for omissions or errors Figures in tables and analyses are calculated from unrounded data and may not sum. Analyses found in the briefings may not totally reflect the companies’ opinions, reader discretion is advised

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Retailing - Hennes & Mauritz

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Strategic Evaluation Competitive Positioning

Geographic Opportunities
Category Opportunities

Brand and Operational Strategies
Recommendations

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Strategic Evaluation

Retailing - Hennes & Mauritz

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Key Company Facts
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB
Headquarters Regional Involvement Stockholm, Sweden Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, North America, Western Europe, Middle East and Africa Clothing and footwear specialist retailers, homeshopping, internet retailing

H&M’s robust performance in battle with Inditex
• The world’s second largest clothing and footwear

Sector Involvement

World clothing and footwear 1.7% (2009) specialist retailers share 1.5% (2008) Retail sales value growth (US$) -4.1% (2009) 17.2% (2008)

specialist retailer in 2009, behind Inditex, and ahead of Gap, H&M continued to record strong sales growth in 2008 and 2009. This was achieved partly thanks to a strong performance in its largest market, Germany, with sales in local currency terms up by double-digits. • Inditex’s and H&M’s battle for the world’s largest clothing and footwear retailer position is closely fought, while Gap, which was the world’s largest player in this channel until 2007, has been significantly left behind by the leading two.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB - Sales excl. VAT vs Profit After Tax
90,000 SEK million 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Sales excl VAT Profit after tax 18,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 SEK million 16,000

H&M’s profits remain healthy
• H&M registered sales excluding VAT of SEK88.5

billion (US$13.7 billion) in 2008, an increase of 13% over the year, with profit after tax also up 13% to SEK15.3 billion (US$2.4 billion), which highlights the group’s high margin. • Its major rival, Inditex, recorded revenue of EUR10.4 billion (US$14.5 billion) in 2008, up 10% on the previous year, with net profit up 0.2% to EUR1.3 billion (US$1.8 billion). Gap registered sales of US$14.5 billion, down 8% in the year, as it suffered from poor conditions in its core US market, though the company’s net profit grew by 16% to US$967 million, helped by cost savings.
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Q3 results: Resilient Performance, Continued Expansion
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB – Q1 to Q3
Sales excluding VAT (SEK billion) Profit after tax (SEK billion) Net margin (%) 73.4 (2009) 62.2 (2008) 10.2 (2009) 10.2 (2008) 13.9 (2009) 16.4 (2008) Resilient performance, with sales driven by store network expansion • H&M’s sales excluding VAT grew by 13% to SEK23.6 billion (US$3.4 billion) in the third quarter ending August 2009. Group profits after tax continued to rise, up by 4% to SEK3.5 billion (US$506 million). • However, same-store sales declined slightly in local currency terms, with consumer sentiment remaining subdued and hindering sales of non-grocery retailers, especially in the US, while the German market was resilient and strong gains were made in Italy. • For the nine months to August 2009, sales were up by 18% to SEK73.4 billion (US$10.6 billion), with growth boosted by new store openings. Profits after tax were up by 0.2% to SEK10.2 billion (US$1.5 billion). Low inventory levels were a major factor contributing to keep costs down. Inditex records lower sales growth than H&M • Inditex recorded revenues up by 7% to reach EUR4.9 billion (US$7.1 billion) in the six months to July 2009. Growth in Asia’s emerging markets continued to boost revenues, especially in China and Hong Kong, offsetting a negative economic environment in its Spanish domestic market where it saw a strong decline in like-for-like sales. • Although impacted by the recession in Europe, Inditex’s profits were resilient, helped by efficient cost controls. The group recorded net income down by only 8% on the previous year to EUR375 million (US$550 million), despite sustained investments in network expansion.
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Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB - Net Sales excl VAT vs Profit After Tax
75,000 72,500 70,000 SEK million 67,500 65,000 62,500 60,000 57,500 55,000 52,500 50,000 2008 Q1 to Q3 Net sales excl VAT 2009 Q1 to Q3 Profit after tax 12,000 11,500 SEK million 11,000 10,500 10,000 9,500 9,000 8,500 8,000

Strategic Evaluation

Retailing - Hennes & Mauritz

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SWOT – Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB
Brand recognition: low price and style Combining style innovations and low prices are staple attributes of the H&M brand on which it has built strong consumer recognition. High profile advertising and collaboration with designers help make stores shopping destinations and raise the desirability of its ranges. Operational efficiency A strong control of the whole logistics process helps H&M achieve low costs, while low inventory contributes to maintain margins. Reliance on outsourcing The reliance on production outsourcing, unlike other rivals such as Inditex, puts H&M at greater risks of damaging its reputation in terms of product quality and poor labour conditions in developed countries. Modest presence in emerging markets Despite being a global player present in 33 markets, H&M has developed its presence in Europe and North America mostly, unlike Inditex operating in over 70 countries including many emerging markets.

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Internet retailing The rapid growth of clothing and footwear sales through internet retailing is expected to continue and give H&M opportunities to reach a wider audience, especially in its core demographic target, teenagers and young adults, whose purchases are often influenced by the internet.

Untapped potential in emerging markets
Urbanisation, increased disposable incomes and changing lifestyles making the population more aware of fashion trends give major growth opportunities in large emerging markets such as China and Russia. There is also potential in markets where H&M is absent such as Turkey and Romania.

Non-food expansion of grocery retailers
Hypermarkets and mass merchandisers including Carrefour, Target, Tesco and Wal-Mart are set to continue developing their offer of non-food products and compete directly against H&M in the value segment of clothing and footwear retailing.

Fast fashion becoming more competitive
H&M faces a growing threat from a number of direct competitors with increasingly global ambitions at the low-priced end of the market such as Associated British Foods with Primark, Fast Retailing with Uniqlo and Marks & Spencer, alongside a resurgent Gap.
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Strategic Evaluation

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Key Strategic Objectives and Challenges
Speed to market and price strategy
Fast product turnaround, flexibility and speed to market are major elements determining fast fashion retailers’ operational efficiency. H&M’s record is strong comparable to Inditex in most aspects, although Inditex has an advantage regarding speed to market, as a result of its vertical integration business model. In the midst of the global economic crisis particularly affecting clothing and footwear specialists, H&M chose to avoid heavy discounting in order to maintain its margins and profits. However, more aggressive price wars may force it to discount more and hit its margins.

Ongoing international expansion with a focus on emerging markets
H&M’s presence in emerging markets is less important than Inditex’s, which has a major store network in Latin America and more stores in the Middle East and Africa. Expanding in emerging markets remains a priority for H&M, although growth prospects remain strong in developed markets such as Canada and the US where it can enter numerous new cities, especially in Southern States where it has a modest presence. H&M’s CEO KarlJohan Persson appointed in July 2009 restated the group’s global expansion targets, although it appears to be slower than expected, with around 160 new stores likely to be opened out of 225 initially planned for 2009.

Maintain brand image and increase desirability
Collaborations with designers will need to be continued and reinvented to make products more desirable, make stores more popular shopping destinations and strengthen the emotional bond with consumers and H&M. Distinctive store layout has been used successfully by Inditex with its Zara chain to convey the desirability of its clothes, and this is a strategy that H&M could also implement to make the store designs a more important aspect of its strategy. This could allow H&M to maintain an advantage over smaller rivals with increasing global ambitions for their brands such as Primark and Uniqlo.

Late entry into internet retailing
Although growth in internet retailing sales is particularly promising for clothing and footwear retailers, H&M has been a late entrant and will struggle to seize the opportunities offered by this channel. It has left numerous other retailers including pure play internet retailers such as Amazon and Asos and the homeshopping specialist Otto take a lead. Hence, it will be difficult for H&M to target these consumers and generate traffic to its websites, although it could rely on high-profile advertising and innovative sites to succeed.
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Retailing - Hennes & Mauritz

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Strategic Evaluation Competitive Positioning

Geographic Opportunities
Category Opportunities

Brand and Operational Strategies
Recommendations

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Competitive Positioning

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H&M Performs Strongly but Growth is Matched by Inditex
• International expansion and fashionable product assortment led to strong growth for H&M and its main rival Inditex,

despite a marked slowdown in 2009 due to the global economic crisis and the strength of the US dollar.

Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers - World - Retail Value RSP excl Sales Tax - US$ - % Year-on-Year Growth
28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0 -4 -8 -12 2005

% y-o-y growth

A

C B
2006 World C&A Mode Brenninkmeijer & Co INDITEX - Industria de Diseño Textil 2007 2008 Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB Gap Inc, The 2009

A – H&M’s sales record strong growth, on a par with C&A, thanks to global store network expansion. However, Inditex outperforms H&M thanks to more aggressive network expansion not only in Western Europe, but also in emerging markets.

B – Gap under-performs its main rivals, hindered by a strong reliance on its low-growth domestic market and a less aggressive price strategy than H&M. Gap’s image also suffers from a product assortment perceived as more staid than H&M’s and Inditex’s.

C – The rise of the US dollar against other global currencies in 2009 is causing a fall in value sales for all retailers. H&M’s low-priced positioning and its wide global presence helps the company remain resilient in a challenging environment for non-grocery retailers.

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Competitive Positioning

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Competitive Context: Inditex and H&M on the Rise
World – Top 10 Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers 2005-2009
Company name INDITEX - Industria de Diseño Textil Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB Gap Inc, The C&A Mode Brenninkmeijer & Co Ross Stores Inc Fast Retailing Co Ltd Shinamura Co Ltd Limited Brands Inc Benetton Group SpA Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp 5-year 2009 % 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 trend share


Gap loses its crown
• Gap saw declining sales in 2007

3

3

2

1

1

1.7


      

2 1 4 6 8 12 5 11

2 1 4 6 8 14 5 12

3 1 4 5 8 11 7 10

2 3 4 5 6 11 7 8

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1.7 1.5 1.4 0.8 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5

and 2008, due to unfavourable economic conditions in its US domestic market, which accounted for 81% of its global sales through the clothing and footwear specialists channel. • Compared to H&M, Gap’s higher price positioning hindered its sales, especially in 2008 and 2009 as the global economic crisis dampened consumer spending.

Fast Retailing and Shinamura rising
• Japan-based Fast Retailing posted

a strong performance among the top  10 10 12 14 10 0.4 10 global players, helped partly by the strengthening of the yen to the Note: 2009 provisional data US dollar. Competing with a similar price positioning to H&M, Fast Strong growth for H&M, overtakes Gap but is surpassed by Inditex Retailing expanded outside Japan, • Strong sales growth for H&M over the 2005-2008 period enabled it to especially in China and South overtake key rival Gap. H&M’s business model based on low-priced fast Korea, and announced at the end of fashion proved highly popular with consumers. 2008 its intentions to open stores in • However, Inditex recorded a stronger performance than H&M, thanks to a European markets and in the US. more aggressive expansion strategy, especially in emerging markets. The latter was partly helped by a greater reliance on franchised outlets. Although • As Japan’s second largest clothing and footwear retailer, Shinamura’s H&M’s new store opening strategy was also ambitious, its presence in ranking was also boosted by emerging markets remained modest compared to Inditex’s. favourable exchange rates, but also • Inditex also benefited from a vertical integration business model enabling it to thanks to new store openings. renew collections more frequently than its main rivals, including H&M.

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H&M and Inditex Neck-and-Neck
• H&M and Inditex have both been highly successful in the clothing and footwear specialists channel over the 2004-

2009 period. Their positioning based on low-priced fast fashion enables them to appeal to a wide range of consumers, especially since 2008 and with the major world economies entering recession. Their fast fashion business model also gives the two players the flexibility to change collections rapidly to adapt to consumer tastes, although Inditex has the edge over H&M in this respect. • International network expansion was also a major part in driving sales of both companies, although Inditex has a greater presence in emerging markets, especially thanks to a wide reach in Latin America. Thanks to its greater reliance on franchising, new market entry requires fewer resources and entails less risk for Inditex than for H&M, which is more biased towards company-owned outlets. • Although both companies saw their World - Retailing Sales 2004-2009 retail sales in US dollar terms hit by the fall in the value of the euro 15,000 against the US dollar, they retained their lead over Gap. The latter’s 12,500 strong dependence on the US market proved a disadvantage, as it suffered 10,000 disproportionately from the recession in its domestic market in 2008 and 7,500 2009, which it could not offset with expansion in emerging markets, where it remains absent. 5,000 • In addition, Gap adopted a less aggressive pricing strategy than its 2,500 peers, thus losing share rapidly to H&M and Inditex, but also to players 0 in other channels in the US such as 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 mass merchandisers Target and WalHennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB INDITEX - Industria de Diseño Textil Mart.
Retail value sales rsp excl tax (US$ mn) 11

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Overall Stagnation in Sales per Outlet
World – Top 10 Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers – Sales per Outlet 2004-2009 – US$ Fixed Exchange Rates
Company name INDITEX - Industria de Diseño Textil Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB Gap Inc, The C&A Mode Brenninkmeijer & Co Ross Stores Inc Fast Retailing Co Ltd Shinamura Co Ltd Limited Brands Inc Benetton Group SpA Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp Note: 2009 provisional data 2004 3,130,909 7,103,455 5,233,467 7,658,816 6,571,607 5,663,966 3,168,427 2,541,956 916,038 8,482,203 2005 3,222,196 7,072,943 4,976,290 7,435,090 6,719,945 4,185,028 3,129,442 2,686,424 911,815 9,062,259 2006 3,245,793 7,102,853 4,882,942 7,276,803 6,967,172 3,720,254 3,222,800 2,799,494 896,071 9,090,081 2007 3,374,326 7,194,397 4,648,360 7,195,536 7,136,890 3,884,908 3,196,295 2,778,019 913,342 9,032,800 2008 3,291,002 7,279,016 4,180,204 6,979,826 6,784,922 4,520,068 3,201,177 2,636,235 949,993 8,904,762 2009 3,267,473 7,303,864 3,753,935 6,843,244 7,238,611 5,203,178 3,163,917 2,543,005 960,191 8,068,446 % growth 2004/2009 4.4 2.8 -28.3 -10.6 10.1 -8.1 -0.1 0.0 4.8 -4.9

Modest growth in sales per outlet for most players, including H&M
• The growth trend in sales per outlet broadly matches the trends in overall sales growth for the top four global

retailers, with H&M and Inditex outperforming C&A and Gap. Higher sales per outlet for H&M compared to Inditex largely reflects H&M’s larger average outlet size. • Downward price pressure and prevalent discounting in apparel retailing, accompanied by the growing reliance on production outsourcing to low labour cost countries in the clothing industry, contributed to the stagnation or slight decline in sales per outlet for most retailers, especially for C&A and Fast Retailing.

Sharp contraction for Gap
• Gap’s higher-priced positioning and its relative resistance to discounting led to a sharp drop in sales per outlet, as it

opted to maintain its margins at the expense of overall sales growth.

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Strategic Evaluation Competitive Positioning

Geographic Opportunities
Category Opportunities

Brand and Operational Strategies
Recommendations

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Geographic Opportunities

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A Global Player Still Dependent on Western Europe
• Among H&M’s top 10 global markets in 2009, all of them were located in Western Europe apart from one, the US.

This highlights the company’s modest presence in emerging markets. Western Europe will account for 84% of the group’s sales in 2009. This proportion exceeded 90% in 2005, which illustrates H&M’s relative success in expanding its presence globally in order to offset the maturity and saturation in Western Europe’s clothing and footwear retailing. • The company’s largest market, Germany, will account for 26% of world sales in 2009. No other market had a share of global sales exceeding 10%, while the domestic market, Sweden, accounts for 5%, which shows that H&M is not overly dependent on the economy of a single market. In comparison to H&M, Inditex is more dependent on its domestic market, which will generate 37% of its world sales in 2009. Both companies seek to extend their global reach, especially in emerging markets, although Inditex has a clear lead in this respect. Hence, H&M operates in 33 markets as of October 2009, compared to around 70 markets for Inditex.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB - Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers (Company's 10 Largest Markets)
2.0 1.5 %CAGR 2009-2014 Netherlands Norway Spain 1.0 Austria 0.5 Sweden 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5 0 25,000 50,000 75,000 100,000 Market Size 2009 (US$ mn) 125,000 150,000 175,000 France Switzerland USA

Opportunity Zone
Germany

United Kingdom

Bubble size shows company sales in market, range displayed: US$536 - 3,497 mn

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Western Europe: Ongoing Expansion for H&M and Inditex
• H&M has a wide presence covering most Western European markets, in which its two main competitors are Inditex

and C&A. All three companies have seen their share increase over the 2004-2009 period at the expense of smaller players, especially those with a national presence only. • The shares of H&M and Inditex were driven by aggressive continuous network expansion across most markets. H&M has seen major ongoing store network expansion in most major European markets in 2008 and 2009, especially in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Its business model has proved to be relatively recession-proof, thanks to its low prices. • C&A has been distanced by the two largest operators. Positioned as a value retailer targeted at families, C&A lost ground thanks to a less fashionable image and an inferior international presence. The company is absent from major European markets including Italy and the UK, and over 50% of its sales in Western Europe are derived from the German market.

Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers: Retail Value RSP excl Sales Tax - Company Shares by GBO
4 % value share 3 2 1 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 14 12 % value share 10

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB Company Shares - Top 6 Markets - Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers - Retail Value RSP excl Sales Tax

8
6 4 2 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

C&A Mode Brenninkmeijer & Co Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB INDITEX - Industria de Diseño Textil

France Netherlands Sweden

Germany Spain United Kingdom 15

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Western Europe: Primark Emerges as New Major Player
Primark expends beyond the British Isles to emerge as a new European player
• Primark, owned by Associated British Foods, only recently expanding outside Ireland and the UK with its first outlets

in Spain in 2008 and Portugal and test stores in Germany and the Netherlands in 2009, has ambitions to develop a wide pan-European network. A new market entry is planned in Belgium in 2010. The success recorded by its first stores in Spain indicates that it could become a major Europe-wide player. • With a strong brand image based on low prices and trendy collections following fashion trends closely, Primark targets teenagers and young adults, thus competing directly against H&M in terms of demographic and price positioning.

Clothing & Footwear Specialist Retailers - Western Europe and United KingdomRetail Value RSP excl Sales Tax - Company Shares by GBO
6 5 % value share 4 3 2

1
0

WE - Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB

WE - Associated British Foods Plc (ABF)
2005 2006 2007

UK - Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB
2008 2009

UK - Associated British Foods Plc (ABF)

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Geographic Opportunities

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Recent and Planned Market Entries: Japan, South Korea
• Although geographic expansion has been a central feature of H&M’s strategy, it has focused until recently on Europe

and North America, in contrast to Inditex venturing in several markets in Latin America and Asia Pacific and C&A’s major presence in Brazil. Recent new market entries in Japan in September 2008 and the planned entry in South Korea in spring 2010 confirm H&M’s adoption of a strategy to be less dependent on Europe and North America.

Successful new entry in Japan in 2008
• With its first store in the upmarket shopping district of Ginza in Tokyo, H&M’s market entry was successful. Initial

reception was very favourable to the new chain, with around 50,000 shoppers visiting the Ginza store over the first week of opening, and a second Tokyo store was opened in November 2008 in the trendy district of Harajuku. The Harajuku outlet was the first H&M worldwide to sell the fashion label Comme des Garçons, with a collection designed by the Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo. This strategy helped create anticipation ahead of the new store opening among fashion-conscious consumers and gives H&M a more exclusive image in Japan than it has in other markets. • Two more outlets in Tokyo are planned by the end of 2009 and a fifth is due to open in 2010, in Osaka. In order to expand faster in the mature Japanese market and to match the scale of its larger rival Inditex, H&M is considering acquisitions to be a possible expansion strategy.

Intense price competition in Japan
• In a market hit by severe recession in 2009, price competition for clothing and footwear items has intensified. This

was highlighted by mass merchandiser chains Justo (Aeon), Ito-Yokado (Seven & I) and Seiyu (Wal-Mart) starting to offer jeans at around ¥1,000 in 2009. Among H&M’s most direct competitors in terms of price and image, the dynamic player Fast Retailing with the Uniqlo chain combining low price and fashionable ranges, followed a similar price move in 2009. However, regardless of price H&M has an advantage in terms of fast fashion in being able to source and offer new products and refresh its collection more frequently than Fast Retailing.

South Korea – following in the footsteps of Inditex
• Following its successful entry in Japan, H&M plans to open its first outlet in South Korea in March 2010 at a flagship

store in Seoul’s business district of Myungdong. In a market less saturated than Japan’s and with fewer major international clothing and footwear specialist chains, H&M is expected to be successful. However, similarly to Japan, H&M enters after Inditex has already established a footprint in 2007 and expanded rapidly since.
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Further Growth in Large Emerging Markets: China, Russia
• With little presence in emerging markets, H&M is attempting to catch up with rivals, especially by expanding in large

emerging markets, especially in China and Russia.

Ongoing expansion in China to continue
• Following market entry in Hong Kong in 2007, H&M expanded rapidly in 2008 and 2009 with new stores in mainland

China. Sales in China accounted for almost 1% of global sales in 2009. The first outlet in Beijing was opened in April 2009 south of Tiananmen Square, with H&M becoming the first foreign retailer to be present in this newly renovated part of the city. In order to create more anticipation around the store opening among consumers, it coincided with the launch of a new collection in collaboration with the designer Matthew Williamson. H&M’s presence in China is expected to continue expanding rapidly through new store openings, both in existing cities and by entering new cities where it can target the rapidly growing number of middle-class urban consumers. • Among H&M’s global rivals, although Inditex expanded in China and Hong Kong earlier than H&M and has a stronger presence with more outlets, it has a less developed supplier network in Asia than H&M, and as a result it can struggle to offer competitive prices to compete against H&M and also against local players, which may lead to the adoption a more differentiated positioning than in other markets. • With Gap planning to enter China in 2010, it is likely that a greater number of international clothing and footwear specialist retailers will enter the market. Competing in a similar price segment to H&M, Fast Retailing announced at the end of 2008 its long-term objective to have 100 Uniqlo outlets in China.

Russia – untimely entry but sound long-term prospects
• H&M opened its first store in Russia in Moscow in March 2009. However, suffering from a fall in gas and oil

revenues, the country’s deep recession in 2009 is worse than previously anticipated and makes H&M’s market entry untimely. Rival Inditex has developed a major presence in Russia over several years, which has allowed the group to take advantage of the booming economy until 2008 to expand and establish a wide customer base. Longer term, H&M is set to emerge from the recession relatively unscathed thanks to its low-priced positioning and to have major growth prospects. Key point: With no presence in Latin America unlike C&A and Inditex, H&M could benefit from entering the large markets of Brazil and Mexico where its low prices should help build a major customer base.
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Franchise Deals Give New Middle East Opportunities
Middle East and Africa expansion set to gather pace
• H&M’s presence in the main Middle East market, the United Arab Emirates, continued to increase rapidly in 2009

thanks to the franchise agreement signed in 2006 with the Kuwait-based company MH Alshaya Group. • Opting to expand through franchise stores and using a similar growth model as Inditex represents a major new development in H&M’s global expansion strategy in emerging markets, which is likely to help accelerate its global expansion. • Thanks to the partnership with Alshaya Group, H&M entered the markets of Bahrain and Oman in 2009, and also opened its first two stores in Egypt in the second half of the year. H&M is likely to enter other new markets in the Middle East and Africa by the end of 2009, or in 2010, including Lebanon. • Under another franchise deal signed with the local company Match Retail, H&M plans to enter Israel in 2010.

Dedicated store concept for Saudi Arabia
• As store concept adaptation is an important ingredient in the success for foreign retailers operating in the Middle

East and Africa, and require close attention, franchise partners are in a better position than H&M to implement new concepts. • For example, in order to comply with local sharia law that forces shops to have segregated areas for men and for women, for its market entry in Saudi Arabia in autumn 2008, H&M opted to adapt its store concept to be only open to women and staffed by women.

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Strategic Evaluation Competitive Positioning

Geographic Opportunities
Category Opportunities

Brand and Operational Strategies
Recommendations

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Category Opportunities

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Modest Growth Forecast for H&M’s Main Channel
• H&M’s sales through the clothing and footwear specialist retailers channel will account for around 97% of its sales in

2009. This channel is forecast to record modest growth over the 2009-2014 period. While channel sales were hindered by the global economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, they are likely to recover to some extent, although they will remain affected by low price pressures on clothing prevailing within this distribution channel as well as in other channels. H&M has stronger prospects than most other clothing and footwear specialist players thanks to its wide international presence and low-cost and flexible business model allowing the group to undercut most rivals while remaining at the forefront of fashion trends. • The remainder of H&M’s sales is accounted for almost equally by homeshopping and internet retailing, although the latter is increasingly supplanting the former, mirroring the wider industry trend. Expanding internet retailing presence will help offset the growing saturation of clothing and footwear retailing. Unlike Inditex, which is also present in the furniture and furnishings stores channel in a number of markets under the Zara Home brand, H&M does not operate other store-based formats.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB - Global Retailing Presence & Prospects by Channel
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 0 100,000 Internet retailing

% CAGR 2009-2014

Clothing & footwear specialist retailers Homeshopping 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 Market Size 2009 (US$ million) 700,000 800,000 900,000

Bubble size shows company sales in this channel (2009). Range displayed: US$169 - 13,118 million

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Battling Against Hypermarkets and Mass Merchandisers
Grocery retailers and mass merchandisers increase price pressure on clothing and footwear specialists
• Clothing and footwear specialist retailers are increasingly seeing more intense competition from rivals operating

•

•

•

•

mostly in other store-based channels, such as mass merchandisers and hypermarkets. As H&M is positioned in the low-priced segment in clothing and footwear retailing, it is vulnerable to the direct competition from these channels and needs to cultivate its clear competitive advantage in terms of fashion and desirability. An example of the intensifying competition affecting clothing and footwear retailers is the price war between Fast Retailing (Uniqlo) and mass merchandisers Aeon (Jusco) and Wal-Mart (Seiyu) in Japan to sell jeans at around ¥1,000 in 2009. In the US, Gap’s sales have been eroded by the success of mass merchandiser Target’s aggressively priced clothing ranges. In Western Europe, the expansion of major hypermarket operators including Auchan, Carrefour, Tesco and Wal-Mart into non-food products is set to continue as they seek to improve margins. Although this trend has slowed down to some extent in 2008 and 2009 due to the global economic crisis, with grocery retailers refocusing at least temporarily on more recession-proof food items, the longer-term trend is expected to see hypermarkets attempting to be more competitive in their offer of clothing and footwear, with more appealing ranges to compete more directly against specialist non-grocery retailers. In the UK, Wal-Mart’s Asda chain, thanks to the increased sales of its George apparel range in 2009, threatens to overtake Marks & Spencer and Associated British Foods’ Primark chain to become the country’s largest clothing retailer. Tesco saw clothing sales improve in the first half of 2009 alongside growth in non-food sales, up by 8%. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s is planning to increase space allocated to non-food ranges in 2010 and 2011 and widen the reach of its successful TU range of clothes by offering it at more stores.

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Internet Retailing: H&M’s Late Entry
H&M and Inditex both rise to the challenge and plan to develop internet retailing
• Beyond store-based rivals, clothing and footwear specialist retailers are increasingly battling against internet retailers

and most of them react by developing or expanding their own online retailing activity. With consumers’ familiarity with ordering online generally on the rise, coupled with efforts from internet retailers to make their websites more visually appealing and user-friendly, consumers’ confidence in ordering clothes via the internet has been strongly boosted. • Major homeshopping retailers which are also leading players in clothing, for example, Otto, are increasingly moving online. Similarly, H&M’s homeshopping sales in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and the Nordic countries are gradually migrating to internet retailing. The company’s significant experience in homeshopping in these markets prepares it well to tackle the logistics aspects to make internet retailing operations efficient across European markets. • Both Inditex and H&M made announcements in 2009 indicating that they are gradually joining the fray and expanding online in most European markets. Inditex will start operations in major European markets by early 2010, while H&M will launch its website in autumn 2010 in the UK. Thanks to its wide product assortment, the vast choice increases H&M’s chances of success in internet retailing although this requires the site to be designed in a way to be easy to navigate. • However, H&M is a late entrant in the channel and appears to have made a protracted move, with a plethora of major other operators including Amazon, Asos, the John Lewis Partnership, Marks & Spencer and Tesco having already obtained a strong foothold in UK online clothes retailing. Rival Gap also plans to launch its own website in the UK, following its earlier initiative in 2009 to sell its products on the Asos.com website. In the US, Gap has a multibrand website and offers combined delivery on cross-brand orders.

Aggressive expansion from internet retailing specialists and grocery retailers
• Major grocery retailers have high ambitions for online clothes sales, as shown by Tesco’s relaunch of its UK clothing

website in September 2009 offering private label and brands, and with Wal-Mart’s Asda offering the George label at Asda Direct since 2008. Websites of grocery retailers also often offer the added convenience of click-and-collect services. Among specialist internet retailers, Amazon’s acquisition of the US online clothes retailer Zappos for US$850 million in August 2009 signals its ambitions in apparel retailing, and its low prices and high number of visits from customers give it key competitive advantages. Key point: With internet retailing making price comparisons between retailers easier, H&M should focus on advertising its low prices and promotions on its transactional website, while also emphasising the more fashionable design of its clothes in order to differentiate its website from Amazon and the grocery retailers.
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Strategic Evaluation Competitive Positioning

Geographic Opportunities
Category Opportunities

Brand and Operational Strategies
Recommendations

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Brand and Operational Strategies

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H&M: A Widely Recognised Global Brand
Strong brand awareness and image
• H&M’s strong brand image is associated with value and stylish

collections, helped by the collaborations with famous designers. The latest example is the creation of the Jimmy Choo collection to be launched in November 2009. Such events create a great amount of publicity and media coverage to generate added footfall. • In a similar way to Inditex, H&M relies on opening stores at a few flagship locations in major cities in order to build its brand image. Examples of such stores include the Harajuku store in Tokyo and the Champs Elysées store in Paris planned for 2010. • Highlighting the H&M brand’s high level of awareness, it was ranked 21st among the top 100 most valuable global brands according to Interbrand in 2009, with a value exceeding US$15 billion. In comparison, Zara ranked only 50, while Gap came in at number 78. High-profile advertising with celebrities is widely used by H&M, unlike Inditex. H&M spends around 5% of its revenues on advertising.

H&M Brand geographic Asia Pacific, Eastern involvement Europe, Middle East and Africa, North America, Western Europe Brand channels Clothing & footwear specialist retailers

World ranking & share 1 and 1.6% (2009) in clothing and footwear specialist retailers

Multi-brand approach from Inditex
• In sharp contrast to H&M’s almost exclusive

Brands other than H&M gain greater importance
• The more upmarket COS successfully launched in the UK in

2007 enabling the group to target wealthier customers and potentially increase its margins. It was subsequently extended to other markets: Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. • The Swedish chain Monki, acquired in 2008 and known for its sophisticated and colourful store designs, is not being rebranded and was expanded outside Sweden in 2009 with two stores in Denmark. This should allow H&M to diversify its customer base.

reliance on its eponymous brand, Inditex has adopted a strategy based on building a vast brand portfolio including Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Zara and Zara Home. • The key competitive advantages resulting from this company’s multi-brand strategy is its ability to target a wide range of consumer groups with brands and products tailored to various tastes in order to bring exclusivity and differentiation. • The level of independence of the company’s major brands is also an important aspect of Inditex’s capacity to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Group synergies are ensured thanks to the group's vertical integration, which also contrasts with H&M’s strategy of outsourcing.

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Operations and Private Label Strategies
Production outsourcing vs.. vertical integration
• H&M sources around 70% of its product assortment from Asia and over one third is purchased from China. It relies

heavily on outsourcing production, with over 21 production offices worldwide (10 in Europe, 10 in Asia and 1 in Africa) liaising with over 750 factories. In contrast, Inditex sources the majority of its products from Europe, and most of its production is made in-house in order to cut the time lag between product design and in-store availability. • Although production in Asia helps H&M undercut Inditex on price, it also makes it more vulnerable to currency fluctuations, with the value of the US dollar strengthening in 2009 against European currencies and making imports from Asia more expensive in its main market, Europe. This reduced at least temporarily the scale of its competitive advantage over Inditex.

Low inventory levels
• H&M’s operational efficiency is reflected in the level of inventory being usually low thanks to the frequent renewal of

its collection. However, the focus on reducing inventory in order to protect margins has been detrimental to sales in some months in 2009, especially over the summer, when the company had relatively few items available for markdowns. Although H&M generally achieves low inventory costs, it is likely to be often surpassed by Inditex in this respect. As one of the pioneers of the fast fashion business model with new ranges being introduced every two weeks, Inditex is particularly efficient in incorporating feedback from stores daily into the development of new products, thanks to vertical integration and as such, H&M cannot replicate this model.

Private label ranges under various names
• All of H&M’s product assortment consists exclusively of private label. Private label ranges have various names to

target different genders and customer types. For example, Hennes is targeted at 25-35 year-old women, L.O.G.G. is a casual sportswear label and MAMA is a maternity range. Key point: As European consumers’ awareness of ethical issues increases, H&M is vulnerable to negative publicity surrounding working conditions at factories producing its clothes in Asia. Since it outsources a greater share of its products from Asia than Inditex and has less control over its supply chain, H&M’s auditing of factories must be strict and transparent to limit the chances of poor labour conditions being publicised and tarnishing its brand reputation.
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Strategic Evaluation Competitive Positioning

Geographic Opportunities
Category Opportunities

Brand and Operational Strategies
Recommendations

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Recommendations

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Key Recommendations
Develop more premium chains alongside core low-priced offering
• H&M’s focus on affordability remains

Internet retailing to be differentiated and wide-reaching
• As H&M is a late entrant in the

New market entries and expansion in existing markets
• Entering into new emerging

a core element of its success and contributed to make the retailer resilient in a recessionary economic environment. • Although its low-priced and fashionable image with its eponymous brand H&M should not be jeopardised, in addition to cultivating it, the retailer should also attempt to widen its customer base and especially target wealthier consumers with its other banners such as COS and Monki stores offering edgy fashion. This could also help increase profits once the economy recovers and consumers become less cost-conscious.

internet retailing arena in most European markets and arrives in a crowded and competitive market where Amazon and Otto have made inroads, it will need to offer innovative transactional websites that can convey effectively the textures, colours and finish of its clothes in order to differentiate its offer but still highlight the low prices. • H&M’s presence in internet retailing could also be extended to markets where it does not seek to open physical stores, mirroring the example of Marks & Spencer delivering products to around 80 countries since autumn 2009.

markets, especially in neighbouring markets to those where it operates, offers considerable growth opportunities for H&M. • Romania and Turkey are large European markets where the store concept is likely to be popular and where rival Inditex has developed a major store network. In Latin America, Mexico offers opportunities in the value segment of clothing and footwear retailing. Although it is well covered by C&A and Wal-Mart, H&M can cater for more fashionconscious consumer groups. • In Asia Pacific, H&M’s burgeoning presence could accelerate by expanding to new cities, especially in China and Japan. In the latter market, new store concepts and collections or new banners such as COS and Monki could be tested.
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