DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------P

D I S T R I B U T I O N A N A L Y S I S:

In-store displays of swimwear, in February of 2019 in Barcelona’s flagship store, as well as garments labeled with the H&M Conscious tag. 29

30 H&M swimwear display as of February 2019 in Barcelona’s flagship store.

As of November 30 2018, H&M has 4,968 stores around the world in 71 markets. 47 countries currently sell H&M online. Out of all of the countries, H&M has the most POS in the US, China, and Germany. The brand also has 255 franchised stores in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Israel, Morocco, Jordan, Thailand and Indonesia (H&M group,

2018).

In terms of their Conscious collection, no precise information was attained in how many global stores it is displayed in (as they did not respond); although, it is reasonable to assume that it is placed globally as H&M states that “The Conscious Exclusive collection launches in selected H&M stores around the world, as well as online at hm.com, on 19 April 2018” (H&M Group, 2018).

Store clusters include: • Own Stores • Shopping Malls • Airport Stores

It is very interesting that H&M does not have an allocated section for their “Conscious” line. The line is spread into different areas based on their affiliations or style. For instance, “Conscious” cardigans are placed with normal cardigans, and the jungle/earthy styled clothes have the most Conscious garments as the current Conscious colorings go with that theme. This may be due to H&M not wanting to create a bad feeling/stigma that the rest of their clothes are not “sustainable”. They also may want to mix their “Conscious” styles amongst the styles they pertain to for customers to easier find. It gives customers the opportunity to choose whether they want a normal product or a sustainable one around the store, and have the option of getting an added ‘bonus’.

Pictures of the “Conscious” display are shown in Annex: Figure 1. In addition, all four stores visited in Barcelona had very little Conscious products displayed. They all were allocated the same. One store employee even stated, incorrectly, that we only have “4 Conscious garments”.

As there are more than 400 Conscious references online, the collection is not properly communicated and displayed in the physical stores. It is also interesting that Zara does not have a section for their sustainable garments as well, they are spread by style.

In terms of the Conscious Exclusive line, there were not any products in-stores, this may due to the new collection being released in April; therefore last year’s colllection may not be available anymore.

As this AdHoc research is conducted in February, the swimwear selection, in-stores, was not wide. The few garments were placed next to the lingerie section in all stores visited (as shown to the left and on page 29 ). A sales associate stated that as these months are cooler the stock is smaller, however come May a wide selection of swimwear will be placed in the lingerie area as well as in the accessory area next to cashiers. According to this statement, it seems as though H&M allocates a certain amount of swimwear pieces based on the store’s climate and seasonal desires.

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