In last few months, India has proved to be one of the most badly affected markets for world’s leading apparel brand H&M.
The brand’s sale in India has gone down by 50 per cent in the June to August 2020 period, compared to what it was during the same period last year.
Notably, in last 9 months, sale in India is down by 31 per cent, which is quite high compared to average global sales figures.
The company, which entered India in 2015, currently has 48 stores across the country.
Overall sales numbers of the company from 1 June 2020 to 31 August 2020 have gone down by 16 per cent. Only 5 countries have seen its sales fall by more than 50 per cent in the June to August period.
Known for its attractive designs, H&M has 5,043 stores across 74 countries.
In last 9 months (December 2019 to August 2020), the brand saw its sales in India slump by 31 per cent compared to the same period of last year.
Even during this period, there were only 8 countries that fell more than India as far as retail sales of the company are concerned.
The company announced today that its 9-month report shows that across the globe its sale was down by 21 per cent in these 9 months.
For 2021, a net decrease of around 250 stores is planned by the company.
Helena Helmersson, CEO of the company, commented on the overall performance of the company, adding “As a result of much-appreciated collections together with rapid and decisive actions, our recovery is going better than expected.”
Helena also said “We have strong, profitable online growth, and more and more stores have been able to open again. With more full-price sales than expected and strict cost control, we returned to profit already in the third quarter. Although the challenges are far from over, our assessment is that the worst is behind us and we are well placed to come out of the crisis stronger.”
