Name: H&M is betting big on Asia, with South Korea as its test bed
Uploaded: 2025-10-30T03:13:35.345Z
Duration: 3 min 54 s
Description: H&M’s Saed El-Achkar speaks with Squawk Box Asia’s Martin Soong about the brand’s Asia push and why South Korea is the perfect testing ground for its online and offline retail strategy.

H&M’s Saed El-Achkar speaks with Squawk Box Asia’s Martin Soong about the brand’s Asia push and why South Korea is the perfect testing ground for its online and offline retail strategy.

Seoul

H&M is intensifying its efforts in Asia, with a particular focus on South Korea as a testing ground for its latest retail initiatives. The company recently opened a new store in Seoul's Songsu district, which it describes as a blueprint for future developments in the region. H&M is prioritizing a culturally relevant and seamless shopping experience for customers, reflecting the importance of the Asian market in its global strategy.

The company is also adapting its supply chains and retail mix in response to global trade dynamics and the high rate of online shopping in South Korea. H&M aims to maintain agility and accessibility in fashion, balancing both online and physical retail channels to meet evolving consumer preferences. South Korea's advanced digital landscape provides H&M with an ideal environment to experiment with new approaches in both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar formats.

H&M is betting big on Asia, with South Korea as its test bed

Thank you for mentioning as well our newest opening in Sangsu. As you know, H&M is one of the largest leading fashion brands in the world but definitely one of the most dynamic ones in Asia. And you are completely right. A lot of things are happening and taking place this week in Korea and I'm sure a lot of companies and global brands are watching what is going on and determining how the future will look like. And for us it's also incredibly exciting because we are having our latest and newest opening in Songsu which will be the blueprint for where H&M is going to. Okay. The whole matter of tariffs which I mentioned just before I came to you right. Japan is I guess lucky. They came out with at 15 percent. South Korea is as far as I know and we haven't seen the details of this new agreement which was struck between the U.S. and South Korea overnight. As far as I know still is at 19 percent. Does that matter to a company like H&M? I'm sure. I mean this is a very good way of putting it. Everything matters. And I'm sure a lot of global brands around the world again are watching and analyzing to understand what are the next move and how we will be positioning ourselves globally. But for us at H&M I think it's very important to mention that Asia is a very important market. And that's why we are incredibly excited about what we're doing here in Korea and the investments we're doing towards having a cultural led a local relevant and a seamless shopping experience provided for our customers. Similar to what we are doing this week here in Songsu. So you know when I think about it H&M strikes me as I mean it's a Swedish brand right. It strikes me as the FMCG fast moving consumer goods fashion equivalent of IKEA. Right. Turnover is very very high. I know because my wife shops there and she loves to do that to entice people to come in and see what's new at H&M. Your supply chains though how have they adjusted since this trade war erupted. Where do you source how much from China. And if so how much have you I guess withdrawn from there and pivoted elsewhere. First of all I'm very glad that your wife shops at H&M and I think she'll be incredibly happy about our latest collaboration with Glenn Martin that is launching as well today. But coming back to your question you're incredibly right. Supply chain is on the top of mind of everything that we do. But what's important for H&M is the agility and the speed that we are providing fashion for our customers. Our main aim is to make fashion as accessible as possible. And of course being able to react to the latest trends that that is out there and there is available. And that's what we continue to invest in not only in Asia but all across the world. So talk to me about the split. Right. You are online. You are also bricks and mortar. Are you comfortable with the mix right now or does it need to go a little bit more weighty one way or the other. That is I think the golden question that every retailer is looking to nowadays especially with the digital volume and how the market shifts. But fashion is a very dynamic industry. And I think what's incredibly important is to make sure that you are present everywhere where the customer is. So our task is to make sure that we are comfortable for our customers to do their shopping. We're providing them with that seamless only shopping experience. And what's incredibly interesting about Asia and more specifically about Korea is of course the online penetration rate which is one of the highest in the world. So Korea does give us that platform where we're able to test that expand and try different platforms both in physical and in digital.

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