H&M to launch Tmall store in early 2018
Swedish fashion group H&M is to open an official flagship store for its namesake brand on Tmall, Alibaba’s B2C shopping site. Going live early next year, this will act as the retailer’s only online sales channel in China outside of its official website.
It will also use the store to introduce items from its home-accessories sister brand H&M Home. The company’s street-style brand Monki, launched in 2016, is already available on Tmall. “We are very happy to be able to make H&M even more accessible in mainland China,” says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO, H&M Group. “Tmall is an important complement to our existing physical and digital stores. We see a great potential for substantial future growth and it will be an important part of this.” The company is in “advanced discussions” with Alibaba to launch its remaining brands on Tmall, he adds.
H&M opened its first store in mainland China, in Shanghai, ten years ago. It currently operates more than 500 physical stores there, reporting about $1.3 billion in revenue from its Chinese online and offline channels.