H&M expands its marketplace offering

H&M’s marketplace strategy is bearing fruit, according to CEO Helena Helmersson. The Swedish fashion giant is opening its doors to include more third-party brands.

Helmersson shared this information with Reuters after the publication of new figures. H&M’s revenue is on the rise, with a growth of 9 percent compared to the same period last year. The profit increased slightly in the past quarter, although the profit margin decreased slightly. Overall, the company performed better than analysts had expected, causing the stock price to soar.

H&M’s turnover grew by 9% in six months

The positive results are partly due to the inclusion of external brands in the assortment of various H&M formulas, including Arket, Cos, and & Other Stories, both online and in stores. “This has been really well received by customers who also complement the H&M assortment with other brands,” said Helmersson.

Third-party labels

Currently, seventy third-party labels are available for purchase through H&M’s channels, including Adidas and New Balance, as well as the Swedish mountain bike brand Klättermusen.

The addition of additional brands ‘ramps up H&M’s effort to take on ecommerce rivals’, reports Reuters, referring to companies such as Zalando from Germany, the British Asos, and the Chinese Shein.

Securing profitable growth

H&M started adding external brands to Hm.com at the beginning of last year, after already gaining market place experiences with other labels. According to Helmersson, the marketplace strategy presents new challenges for the company: “Now we need to focus on making sure that we have the right kind of backbone, for example the right logistics, to really secure profitable growth.”

H&M aims for profitable growth with its marketplace

Monki on Zalora

Meanwhile, H&M is also considering including its own brands on other marketplaces. For example, Monki, a label from the fashion conglomerate, will soon be available for purchase on the Asian fashion platform Zalaro.