The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
SWEDEN, Stockholm — Hennes & Mauritz AB has another headache: not being able to deliver online goods as fast as it wants.
The struggling Swedish fashion retailer is being inundated with complaints on its Facebook page from customers who haven’t received their products on time. One says that her baby will soon be "too big for the items" she ordered 26 days ago, while another worries that clothes ordered three weeks ago will "go out-of-fashion."
And H&M acknowledges it has problems. Construction at its online distribution center in Boras, Sweden, is resulting in delays in Sweden and Norway, which account for about 7 percent of the company’s online and physical store sales, according to spokeswoman Katarina Gustafsson.
"We hope for our customers’ understanding and regret any inconvenience caused,” she said in an email.
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The delays may complicate the company’s efforts to boost sales. Operating profit fell to its lowest level in more than a decade in the first quarter as markdowns failed to reduce a pile-up of inventory.
The delivery problems hit at the heart of the company’s strategy shift to focus more on online sales and new store formats. The restructuring of the online distribution center aims to speed up delivery times from H&M’s current standard of five to seven days, Gustafsson said.
Customers are imploring H&M to be more transparent.
"Your website states 5-7 days for delivery... If the info is wrong, please change it so that customers know about the lengthy delivery time rather than misrepresentation of the delivery timeline," one says.
By Anna Molin; editors: Christopher Kingdon and Jonas Bergman.
From analysis of the global fashion and beauty industries to career and personal advice, BoF’s founder and CEO, Imran Amed, will be answering your questions on Sunday, February 18, 2024 during London Fashion Week.
The State of Fashion 2024 breaks down the 10 themes that will define the industry in the year ahead.
Imran Amed reviews the most important fashion stories of the year and shares his predictions on what this means for the industry in 2024.
After three days of inspiring talks, guests closed out BoF’s gathering for big thinkers with a black tie gala followed by an intimate performance from Rita Ora — guest starring Billy Porter.