Between Dec To Aug The H&M sale increases From 291 crore To 700 Crore

Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz’s sales in India during the nine months ended August more than doubled to about Rs700crore after selling merchandise at relatively lower prices than rival Zara.

H&M's Indian business clocked sales of Rs 704 crore (SEK 874) during December 2016- August 2017, compared to Rs291 crore (SEK 361) a year ago. With about 17 stores until August, each generating an average of Rs 58 crore annually in sales, H&M’s performance is the best within the apparel space in the retail
market.

Janne Einola, Country Manager, H&M India said "The customers response to H&M’s global fashion, quality and prices as well as our expansion strategy of opening stores in metros and tier 2 cities continues to drive strong growth.”

After opening its first store in October 2015, H&M's Indian unit posted Rs 194 crore in sales during year-to-March 2016, with a net profit of Rs1.4 crore. It rose sharply to about Rs640 crore with net profit of Rs15 crore during last fiscal ended March 2017 through 15 stores, many of them barely few months old then.

In comparison, Spanish chain Zara, which opened its first store in India in 2010, had set the benchmark as the fastest-growing and now the biggest international apparel brand in India – with sales of Rs 1,023 crore during FY16-17.

This is unlike the Zara model that is essentially based on imitating the latest fashions, making affordable versions and stocking them hardly for few days, H&M’s entry into India prompted Zara to slash prices by 10-15% for some of its merchandise last year.