H&M gears up to launch its first ever online store in Australia.
- The Swedish chain will offer online shopping for the first time Down Under
- H&M opened its first Australian store 2014, and now has 40 outlets nationwide
- A spokesperson for the brand called the move a ‘significant milestone’
The Swedish fashion chain has announced plans to offer online shopping to customers Down Under later this year, six years after opening its first Australian store in Melbourne CBD in 2014.
The retailer now has 40 outlets nationwide, in every state except the Northern Territory.
H&M is preparing to launch its first ever online store in Australia, six years after opening the nation’s first physical outlet in Melbourne CBD
H&M Australia Country Manager Thomas Coellner called the move into online shopping a ‘significant milestone’ for the brand.
‘We are extremely excited to launch online shopping in Australia later this year. This significant milestone will fully round out H&M Australia’s multichannel offering,’ Mr Coellner said in a statement last week.
‘We look forward to providing 24/7 access to our fashion and creating new experiences for our customers.’
The move comes as Australia’s embattled retail market faces mounting competition from online sales, with more than 170 physical stores tipped to close in the next 12 months.
Household names like Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David, and Napoleon Perdis dropped like flies in the past year with dozens of store closures resulting in heavy job losses.
H&M’s expansion online is sure to be welcomed by shareholders, who previously criticised the retailer for opening more physical outlets without building its digital presence.
‘We think the role of the stores will change,’ H&M Chairman Karl-Johan Persson told the Financial Times, before clarifying the business ‘still believes in physical stores’.
‘We want to make them more inspiring and easier to shop in, so we are running tests to make the stores more attractive,’ he said.