Buying Department

                                                      Middlesbrough

Role: Buyer
Store: H&M
Location: Middlesbrough City centre, 'The Mall' shopping centre
Surrounding stores: Opposite New Look which shows how this hightens the competition between the stores as they would be seen as rivalry stores as they are both on the same highstreet shopping level. However Topshop is situated besides New Look therefore opposite H&M which may take sales away from these stores as Topshop is a higher level store.

Clothing: Departments - Ladies, mens and kids wear which have a wide variety of clothes:Tops, trousers, jeans, shorts, dresses, skirts, jackets and coats, blazers and waistcoats, sportswear, swimwear, Lingerie and nightwear, socks and tights, accessories, shoes and cosmetics.

Trends: European style, quirky, unusual, indie.  Some styles kept for a long time, traditional H&M patterns.
Seasonal Collections: Colours, berry red, cream, beige. Fabrics, Jersey.
Supplyers: 'H&M sources clothes and other products from about 700 suppliers from many different countries'

Types of Materials: There is a variety of materials used in the products throughout the store. H&M have a product policy which they must meet in order to sell those products in store. As the buyer this would be an essential part to research more into before the buying of materials and products can take place and feature within the store.
The Policy can be found on their website -
http://about.hm.com/gb/corporateresponsibility/aboutourproducts/productpolicy__productpolicy.nhtml

H&M's product policy

'Fur and leather

• H&M does not sell genuine fur.
• H&M accepts leather only from cows, buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs raised for meat production.
• H&M does not sell real exotic animal skins, including but not limited to: snake, alligator, crocodile, lizard and ostrich.
• H&M does not accept leather from India due to the occurrence of cruel animal transportation there.
• Waste water from tanneries used for H&M’s products must be treated at a waste water treatment plant.

Down and feathers

• H&M does not accept down from live plucked birds.
• Down and feathers are only accepted from birds raised for meat production.
• H&M requires certification showing that the down and feathers have been properly sterilised.

Angora

• H&M only accepts products made of angora rabbit hair from farms with good animal husbandry.

Silk

• H&M does not accept silk from India due to poor working conditions in the Indian silk industry.

Merino wool

• H&M does not accept mulesing, a procedure performed on Merino sheep in order to prevent fly strike.
• H&M does not accept clips as an alternative to mulesing.

Jeans

• As a commitment to the health and safety of workers in the textile industry, H&M decided in 2010 to stop buying sandblasted jeans and switch to denim that is given the same worn look through alternative methods.

Wood

• H&M does not accept wood products containing material deriving from endangered species.
• For products manufactured from wood originating in countries with tropical rain forests, H&M requires a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate.

Shell

• H&M does not allow shell products originating from endangered species.

Other

• All goods are labelled with their country of origin.
• Prints on H&M:s goods shall not give racist, sexist, political or religious offense.
• H&M children’s clothing should be comfortable and practical. H&M strives not to sell children’s clothing that might be perceived as provocative.'

Quality of Garments: 'At H&M, quality means making sure our products meet or exceed our customers' expectations. Attention to quality and safety begins at the design stage and continues throughout the entire manufacturing process. Every H&M product undergoes a variety of different tests before it reaches the store.'
http://about.hm.com/gb/corporateresponsibility/aboutourproducts__productresponsibility.nhtml

Sizes: Garment sizes on the website range from size 6-24 however in store the sizes ranged from 6-16. Size 10 and 12 seemed to be the size of the majority of clothing.    

Competitive Prices: 
H&M                                                           New Look

Tops £3.99- £34.99                                      Tops £2.49 - £30

Knitwear £7.99- £24.99                                Knitwear £16.99 - £29.99

Jackets up to £34.99                                    Jackets £16.99 - £54.99

Skirts £3.99-£14.99                                      Skirts £7.99 - £27.99

Trousers £14.99-£24.99                               Trousers £9.99 £29.99

Jeans £19.99- £29.99                                   Jeans £16.99 - £27.99

Scarves £7.99- £14.99                                 Scarves £2.99 - £14.99

This shows the price comparison between the stores and we can see that on almost every item the price ranges are very similar therefore customers will be interested in both therefore the store needs to attract customers in ways such as focusing upon the qualtiy of the garment.