Target: Millennials and Gen Z'ers who are interested in making their closet more sustainable, but who may not have enough of a budget to drop on other stores dedicated solely to sustainability. H&M becoming more transparent will hopefully attract back some of their customers who have left after becoming aware of fast fashion, or those influenced by sustainable shopping. In my generation, it is frowned upon to shop at retailers like this, but as someone who is a fan of H&M and Zara, it's hard for not only me, but my budget, to fully cut ties. If H&M discloses their supply chain and becomes more honest about what type of company they are, then I won't feel as guilty buying from them.
Insight: H&M noticed that "Made in" labels can be very misleading. Many garments in large retailers will promote that they are made in a place separate from where 90% of the actual garment was made. In an industry that is fighting to be more sustainable and ethical, this is not a practice that should be continued. Fast fashion is also a huge concern with large retail companies, as they try to keep up with constantly changing trends by always having fresh clothing in their store, quality and workers are suffering. Workers are being paid well below minimum wage and clothes aren't being prepped and paid attention to the way they should before hitting the store. In addition to that, millennials are reported to be 73% more likely to spend more on a garment made sustainably. This means that 73% of millennials have no problem turning away from the cheap convenience of purchasing from retailers like H&M and Forever 21 if they believe that it is not a sustainable option. As a result, H&M has experienced an unexpected and sharp decline in sales recently. They are currently dealing with $4.3 billion in unsold merchandise. Not only does that prove that they are no longer the powerful retailer they once were, but that they are also contributing $4.3 billion worth of unsold clothes to landfills. Not a good look for a company in the age of ethical buying and selling.
Brand Idea: H&M wants to adopt a model of radical transparency in order to fight against claims made towards fast fashion, a highly relevant debate in the fashion industry. They announced their move to list supplier names on the tags of their clothing items online. In store, the customer can also scan a barcode on the tag with their phone and get the same information. Customers will be able to find out accurate information like where the supplier is located and how many people work there. This will also reveal the conditions of the work place. H&M differentiates themselves by being the first large retailer to do this.
Objective: They want to gain more trust with their customers by showing them they use ethical factories. This helps them in case any future scandals break out about poor working conditions because they will have a whole customer base of witnesses that read about the supplier they are buying from. H&M also hopes that this will encourage other large retailers to take more steps towards being honest with their customers about where their clothing comes from along with more sustainable shopping habits from consumers. They don't claim this as a solution to the issues behind fast fashion, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
Strengths: This will promote more radical transparency in their company which is attractive to young consumers. Disclosing information about supply chains on each individual garment tag is something that has not been done before for large retailers, which means it will attract more press and earned media from conversations formed around this topic on social media.
Weaknesses: While this is a step in the right direction, it is still not an absolute solution. H&M will still be apart of fast fashion and be a contributing factor to wasteful fashion. This seems to be a costly move, if it doesn't promote as much conversation and trust as it hopes then they might be out of options after this. Being honest is also a risky move, but I am happy to see that H&M is confident enough in themselves to make this move towards transparency.
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