Coronavirus continues to wreck havoc on the fashion industry as H&M Group sets to close 170 stores this year, this was following the corona crisis and the losses incurred by the fashion group as a result. The decision for this was based on the changed shopping preferences of shoppers since the lockdown. People hardly go out to the stores to buy fashion items, it is more common to place orders online. So the fashion group has decided to focus more on their ecommerce platforms and let go of the physical stores.
This automatically leads to the layoff of the staffs resulting in unemployment that a lot of countries have been experiencing over the past months.
Digitisation accelerates
The previous quarter ended in the red for H&M Group, as a result of the corona crisis. Turnover fell by no less than 50%. CEO Helena Helmersson therefore immediately announced that more stores would close this year than initially anticipated and that fewer new stores will open. She warned the employees in the same breath about dismissals.
Now the scale of the plans becomes clear: H&M Group, which also houses brands such as COS, Weekday and Monki, will close 170 stores around the world this year. However, Helmersson has not yet announced which brands and locations will be affected.
H&M wants to focus more on e-commerce after the strong growth in this channel during the lockdowns. The pandemic has caused changes in buying behaviour, which will accelerate the digitisation of the fashion sector, according to the top executive. Traditionally, ‘physical’ customers now buy online and more men have made the move to e-commerce.
