H&M Case Study

Case study on H&M

Introduction
In recent years, H&M has marked the retail clothing industry by the phenomenal pace at which it has expanded the number of its stores across a diverse range of countries and markets spanning Europe, the United States and recently Asia. H&M distinguishes itself from its competitors notably by offering clothes that are trendy, fashionable yet accessible in terms of price. So how does H&M manage to combine these seemingly divergent characteristics, especially in such a fast-moving and fiercely competitive industry as the retail clothing business?

In the following report, I attempt to cast some light on some of the approaches that account for the success and reputation of the company and that have enabled it to remain competitive over the years and across markets in which it operates. I also seek to raise some of the drawbacks related to those approaches in terms of risk for the business.

Practice of Market Orientation
The practice of market driven marketing rests upon the core idea of generating and offering value to a particular target market better than competitors, which in turn will enable the company to grow and be successful.[1] Generally a market oriented strategy involves focusing on the buyer’s needs and determining the best means by which the consumer will be satisfied. As we will see in the next section, a market oriented strategy begins with identifying a particular target group within a segment and then focusing efforts in understanding and delivering value to that group to achieve customer satisfaction.

This approach presents the challenge of actually identifying customer needs that can vary from being obvious and explicit to subtle and not actually expressed. The implication for marketers, seen within this framework, is to be able to anticipate and even to some extent be prepared to cater to needs that are not yet present, a process known as “creative marketing”.[2]