H&M tests selling external brands

Fashion retailer H&M is considering changing its business model in the near future. The Swedish retailer is experimenting with selling external brands and products, both in selected stores and on its online platform.

Swedish news site Breakit discovered a job advertisement, in which the fashion company expressed interest in a Head of External Brands. Part of the job description stated the fashion retailer was looking for someone who would be a key player in building the featuring of external brands within H&M. In response to the news, H&M confirmed the experiment. The company stated that this is not an entirely new concept for the retailer. The fashion retailer works with external brands for the entire H&M group. Weekday, &Other Stories and Arket are examples of these concepts. In its physical stores in Sweden, Norway and Iceland, the brand is selling external brands in the cosmetics department too.

Platformisation

When H&M goes through with the experiment, it will be following the current e-commerce trend of platformisation. Marketplaces like Amazon and fashion giants like Zalando have proven to be very successful in their offering of products from numerous brands. However, the Swedish fashion retailer currently states this is still a test and will run for a limited time both online and in selected stores in selected markets.