Stand in line, as online is no-show
ONLINE shoppers across New Zealand hoping for an H&M fix are out of luck, but the Swedish fashion giant hasn’t ruled out opening its doors in other parts of the country.
More than 1000 shoppers lined up outside the two-storey store at Sylvia Park in Auckland – with some queuing from 5pm on Friday to be the first to stock up on some of the 120,000 items on sale.
H&M is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers with 148,000 employees working in more than 4000 stores across 63 markets. But in an unusual move, the company hasn’t made online shopping available here.
When Silvia Von Der Brelie asked on H&M’s Facebook when the online store opened the company responded by saying online shopping was not available.
‘‘If anything changes you will be the first to hear on Facebook and Twitter,’’ H&M said in its reply.
H&M offers online shopping in overseas markets but the service could not be accessed from New Zealand.
Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand chair Pat O’Connell said it was unusual H&M had not provided online shopping and expected them to make the option available soon. ‘‘They’ve done it intentionally I would think. Perhaps they’re not ready to handle the New Zealand market.’’
The convenience of online shopping meant the service was only increasing in popularity, he said.
Shoppers were also attracted to online prices which were often cheaper than what was offered in store, he said.
Retail NZ’s Greg Harford said customers expected big retail companies to offer online shopping these days. BEVAN READ / FAIRFAX NZ
But it was not unusual for a company to start with a bricks and mortar store before expanding to online sales.
‘‘My guess is they would be looking to get the store up and running properly before starting an online offering,’’ Harford said.
Whether H&M did open an online shop would depend on how sales went at its Sylvia Park store, he said.
Online shopping was a good way to reach customers in markets where a retailer did not have a physical presence, he said.
H&M said it only had plans for Auckland stores at this stage with a second opening in 2018 at the Commercial Bay development on lower Queen St.
H&M country sales manager Daniel Lattemann said in the long term the company wanted to open stores in other New Zealand cities.
‘‘But for us the location is key, so we would like to have the top spot,’’ Lattemann said.