Fast fashion brand H&M has opened itself up to access millions of shoppers across India—both online, and in-store.
Myntra (a subsidiary of Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart) launched its partnership with H&M this week, bringing the apparel brand’s goods to brick-and-mortar locations and the company’s e-commerce site.
The H&M launch debuted with a star-studded campaign featuring young Bollywood actors wearing the brand’s latest collection, such as Harshvardhan Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari, Diana Penty, Amyra Dastur and Aditya Seal.
“With the H&M launch on Myntra, the brand strengthens its omnichannel strategy by being available in 42 physical stores and on hm.com in India,” the company said in a statement. The first H&M store opened in India in 2015, and the brand launched its e-commerce site in the country in 2018.
“We see huge potential in India and look forward to making our brand available to new customer’s across the country,” said Janne Einola, country manager for H&M India. “Myntra will be an excellent complement to H&M’s existing physical and digital stores in India.”
The H&M store on the Myntra platform launched this week with 15,000 styles for women, men and kids. The company will make its designer collaborations available on the site, too, beginning with the Richard Allan x H&M collection. The H&M Studio collection, which represents the company’s high-fashion offering, will also be available on Myntra.
The move to capture more of India’s market share is a strategic one by H&M. Brands and retailers from across the globe are seeking to capitalize on India’s massive consumer population and effective network of retail chains and e-commerce selling platforms.
While brick-and-mortar retail is still wildly popular in the country, with most citizens shopping daily at neighborhood stores and chains, online commerce in India is slated to grow into a $84 billion industry by 2021, nearly quadrupling in size from 2017 ($24 billion), according to a study from Deloitte India and the Retail Association of India.
In August 2018, Walmart acquired a 77 percent stake in popular Indian retailer Flipkart, which owns Myntra. E-commerce leader eBay began a partnership with Paytm Mall in July. The online marketplace run by Paytm, India’s leading online payment system.