shop and be inspired where, when, and how they choose – be it in-store, online, on digital marketplaces, or on social media,” Mirzaie told Inside Retail. She went on to say that these changes will provide new opportunities for the company to meet its customers when, where and how they want, through a combination of physical stores and digital sales channels. “Therefore, we are focusing our expansion efforts on optimising our omnichannel efforts. We are continuing to integrate our physical and digital shopping channels to elevate the shopping experience for customers and serve their needs more meaningfully,” she added. Technology matters To ensure more capacity and flexibility between its sales channels and improved availability for customers, the company is continuing to invest in technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and its supply chain.  “This will enable us to achieve higher customer satisfaction as we ensure better precision in our quantification, allocation, pricing, personalisation and local relevance, which also leads to leaner production and more sustainable resourcing,” Mirzaie explained. She went on to say that H&M  is continuing to optimise its store portfolio in parallel to its investment in technology, as its physical stores are still important. The makeover of its flagship store at Orchard Building, as well as the upcoming launch of a new lifestyle brand at the refreshed store, is part of these efforts. The motivation Mirzaie said that H&M is committed to elevating its physical stores and optimising the store portfolio to enable a meaningful shopping experience. “With the store’s full re-opening in Q3 2023, our customers can expect an upgraded and more inspiring shopping experience, which includes a new look, structure, and facade, as well as refreshed fitting rooms,” she said. In terms of what makes H&M stand out from the rest, she said the company is always striving to offer the best combination of fashion, quality, price and sustainability for everyone, including women, men, teenagers, children and babies. “Our strength lies in our wide assortment of products – such as the upcoming Mugler H&M collection – and functional sportswear to affordable wardrobe essentials, beauty products and dazzling accessories,” she noted. Mirzaie also mentioned that the company has a large team of in-house designers who bring their diverse backgrounds, perspectives and skills together to create collections that closely follow trends, fashion and customer preferences, and are designed to last.  “This allows us to provide the greatest possible value to our customers, beyond the price that they pay,” she stressed. Sustainability is key For H&M, sustainability is at the core of its business. According to Mirzaie, its vision is to lead the change towards achieving net zero and a circular fashion industry. “We now offer an increasing assortment with more sustainably sourced materials, where 84 per cent of materials come from more sustainable sources,” she said. One example is the ‘Let’s Reuse’ initiative, where customers are charged $0.10 for every paper shopping bag across its stores in Singapore. Mirzaie said that the company has saved over 2.3 million paper bags since the initiative was launched in 2019. “All proceeds from our bag charges in store have gone towards supporting social and environmental causes – including WWF’s Plastic ACTion (PACT) initiative and Daughters of Tomorrow’s career coaching workshops for underprivileged women,” she stated. Since December 2022, the company has also been supporting the Singapore Fashion Council’s Zero Fashion Waste initiative, contributing to the mission of building a more sustainable future for fashion. A holistic solution  Its customers can also play a part in its journey towards zero fashion waste. Under its garment collecting programme, members who bring any unwanted clothes or textiles to the stores will receive a 15 per cent digital voucher and get awarded 40 points.  “To ensure that none of these garments enter the landfill, those that can still be worn again are marketed as secondhand goods, while textiles that are no longer wearable are converted into other products, such as remake collections or cleaning cloths,” she added. She said non-reusable textiles are turned into textile fibres, or used to manufacture products such as damping and insulating materials for the automotive industry. An important market On a final note, Mirzaie said that the Singapore market is still an important one for the brand, and although the business climate is still challenging, the company has seen good progress in several development areas and sales in 2023 have been encouraging thus far. “I am positive that we’ll continue to grow in the right direction as we offer our customers more value with improved precision, faster response times, as well as flexible online and offline shopping experiences in the years to come,” Mirzaie concluded.