H&M overtakes Zara to become India's fastest growing international fashion brand

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 1, 2017

As H&M gears up to open its thirtieth store in India, the brand has become the fastest growing global fashion brand in the country.

H&M has had a busy year in India, opening stores throughout the country including one of their busiest yet at High Street Phoenix in Mumbai’s Lower Parel, which the brand opened during India’s Independence Week. Following this massive brick and mortar expansion, H&M has overtaken Zara, which has just over 20 stores in India, as the nation’s fastest growing international brand.

The brand also crossed 700 crore rupees in sales (approximately 105 million dollars) which they achieved during a nine month period ending in August 2017. However, whilst H&M now has more stores than Zara, Zara remains the biggest international fashion brand in India, with sales for the 2016/2017 fiscal year standing at 1,023 crore rupees (approximately 153.7 million dollars). However, if the trend continues, H&M may overtake them in the near future.

Other contributing factors to H&M’s boom in India this year include many discounts and sale events and a low-priced basics collection that undercut similar offerings from competitors. Other brands even started to discount their stock in an attempt to prevent customers being lured to shop at H&M.

H&M’s India Operations Manager, Janne Einola, said about the brand’s progress: “Of course we looked at competitors and Zara is one of them. But there are also strong local players. The aggressive growth we have here is only because of the market and demand. There’s a great demand for what we have to offer - great fashion and quality at the best price done in a sustainable manner. Traditional clothes will always be there. But the demand for western clothes is growing. You can see it on the streets. We want to respond to that demand.” 

H&M has made strides since their 2015 entry into India and, as their store expansion plans show no signs of abating, they are fighting to become the largest international fashion brand in India.