H&M has introduced its new interactive fitting room format to the UK for the first time, as it reopens its Westfield Stratford site.
The renovated store features fitting rooms where screens recognise products, enabling consumers to request different colours or sizes, receive styling tips and even order items online. These rooms have also been fitted with self-service checkouts.
“The newly designed store truly reflects our investment and commitment to providing the best of our brand for our London customers,” said Klas Degeryd, head of expansion UK & Ireland, H&M.
“Every aspect of the space is crafted with the customer in mind, celebrating the joy of shopping through exceptional design and interactive features. London is a global hub of fashion and creativity, so we are proud to expand and evolve our presence here.”
Multichannel retailing, and sustainability, are among H&M’s key strategic priorities, according to a company profile in the RetailX Europe Top1000 360 report.
The international brand was founded in Sweden in 1947 as H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB. Today, it sells to customers through more than 3,800 stores in 77 markets, as well as online in 60 markets.
It also sells on a range of marketplaces and has a social media presence on five platforms – Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook. H&M produces an annual Sustainability report, where it maps its journey towards a science-based target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 56% by 2030, compared to its performance in 2019. In 2023, it reported reductions of 22%.
The brand has joined The Fashion Pact’s Future Supplier Initiative, offering collective finance to support decarbonisation for clothing and textile factories. “At H&M Group, we want to lead the way within our industry and decarbonising our supply chain is one of the most important keys to further reduce our emissions,” said H&M Group CEO Daniel Ervér.
Additionally, H&M Group has outlined a strategy making the H&M brand its top priority, with a focus on the customer experience and product range. “Our customers are gaining access to a broader and more relevant assortment in stores and online thanks to our investments in areas such as tech and AI, which support our continued work on greater precision and shorter response times,” it said.
“Simultaneously, we are continuing to integrate the two channels for a convenient customer experience with better product availability.”
Visitors to its brand website can easily navigate the site with the help of search suggestions and navigational filters including size, colour, pattern, product type, style and sleeve length. From the product page, they can view a choice of zoomable product images, read reviews and star ratings, and see ‘style with’ recommendations of complementary products, or what ‘others also bought’. Those who join H&M’s loyalty club get access to rewards, an upgrade to fulfilment services and access to rental services.
This H&M profile is one of 11 in the RetailX Europe Top1000 360 report. Each profile offers company profit and sales figures, share price and web traffic as well as a review of what makes their business exemplary.
The wider report shares valuable insights into what makes this a compelling market for retailers, brands and marketplaces, and what works for the leading retailers that do well here. We explore how customer expectations vary by region and by country, with a focus on key ecommerce markets within Europe.
Stay informed
Our editor carefully curates two newsletters a week filled with up-to-date news, analysis and research, click here to subscribe to the FREE newsletter sent straight to your inbox and why not follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest updates on our research and analysis.
