H&M hit by weak brand appeal and wet weather: RTIH rustles up the retail technology week in numbers

Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Just Eat, Boots UK, DPD, Torq, Temu, lululemon, Asos, 3D Cloud, and the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.

$20 million…3D Cloud (formerly Marxent), a specialist in 3D digital asset management for 3D product visualisation, has announced a $20 million growth capital investment led by Arnie Bellini of Bellini Capital.

"Retailers and manufacturers are flocking to 3D Cloud, drawn by its pioneering cloud-based design and visualisation software that outperforms traditional solutions by a factor of five," says Bellini.

"This game-changing technology enables retailers to deliver hyper-personalised, on-demand services like never before. I'm excited to be part of this journey as 3D Cloud continues to drive innovation and lead the market.”

3.1%…H&M has released figures for the three months ending 31st August 2024.

Louise Deglise-Favre, Apparel Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “After a brief respite in the second quarter, H&M’s sales fell 3.1% to SEK59.0 billion in Q3 FY2023/24, while remaining flat in local currencies.”

“This led sales for the nine months to be down 0.6%. Q3’s decline was mainly due to a disappointing June in Europe, where the cold and wet weather wasn’t conducive to sales of its summer stock, but the group also still fails to compete with rivals such as Inditex and Mango on style and value for money.”

“The group’s operating profits tumbled 26.0% in Q3, causing its operating margin to fall from 7.8% last year to 5.9%, although this was mainly blamed on currency effects. H&M has seen substantial improvements in September though and expects the month’s sales to rise 11% in local currencies, which is encouraging for Q4 and the next financial year.”

She adds: “The group’s portfolio brands’ declined 6% in Q3, which can partly be explained by strong comparatives last year, but might also indicate a slowing in desirability as consumers continue to be mindful of their spending.”

“The eponymous H&M brand outperformed its sister brands for the second consecutive quarter, which, along with September’s uplift in sales, indicates its style credentials are finally improving.”

“H&M continues to invest in its marketing, unveiling Charli xcx as the face of its autumn campaign, benefitting from the cultural relevance of the artist. However, the brand should continue to harmonise its pricing structure to better define its positioning.”

Southern and Eastern Europe were the group’s better performing regions in Q3, with sales rising 8% and 4% respectively in local currencies, likely helped by more resilient weather. H&M had the most trouble in its home region of the Nordics, where sales fell 7%, which was heavily impacted by adverse weather.

The combination of bad weather and cautious consumer spend also hindered its Western Europe performance, with sales down 2%. Sales in Asia, Oceania and Africa declined 2%, impacted by the slowdown of the Chinese economy, while North and South America rose 2%, mainly driven by store expansion, especially in Latin America, where the H&M brand plans to open its first Brazilian store in 2025. 

Deglise-Favre says: “H&M continues to invest in its physical stores, refurbishing around 250 globally to modernise and further integrate its multi-channel proposition. Online sales remained around 30% of the group’s revenue, and it recently revamped its website and mobile app to support this channel’s growth.”

“It also expanded its digital presence to more platforms in emerging markets, such as Aijo.com in India and Trendyol.com in Turkey, and it plans to launch on two major Chinese online platforms, Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) and Pinduoduo, this autumn. This will hopefully help it regain appeal among Chinese consumers following the brand’s widespread boycott in 2022.”

50 and 30…Just Eat has announced a partnership with Boots UK, spanning across 50 stores nationwide, with more to come soon.

Ellie Starr, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Just Eat, says: “It's now easier than ever to have your last minute toiletries, skincare favourites, and family essentials delivered to you in just 30 minutes.”

200…Asos is planning to cut 200 roles from its head office.

The fast fashion online retailer says that its current set-up us “no longer suitable for today’s business priorities and context… We need to move faster and deliver more”, according to a document seen by The Mirror.

Impacted areas include business analysts, all engineering managers, and platform leads. At the same time, however, the cuts will be made along with the creation of new roles in tech.

An Asos spokesperson said: “We’ve entered into a collective consultation with members of our technology team around a proposed restructure to drive greater innovation and agility.”

“The restructure will not change our overall number of employees but will ensure we have the right roles and capability to develop the most exciting experience for our customers. It would be inappropriate to comment further while the consultation is ongoing”.

4…Parcel delivery company DPD has announced plans to launch autonomous robot deliveries in Lincoln as part of a nationwide roll-out that could see up to 30 UK depots operating robots in their locality. 

DPD, which is part of Geopost, first introduced robots in Milton Keynes in July 2022, and they are now also out delivering parcels to DPD customers in Raunds and Bristol with more locations to follow this year.  

Based at DPD's Lincoln depot at St Modwens Park, they will deliver to the nearby village of Witham St Hughs, via the existing network of footpaths.  

The robots, which have a battery life of up to 12 hours and can deliver within a mile radius of the depot, operate autonomously once they have completed the mapping process, during which they are fully supervised and controlled by remote control.  

DPD parcel recipients in Witham St Hughs will receive an SMS when the robot is outside their property and can then use a secure one-time pin code to open the robot and access their parcel. Once the compartment is closed, the robot will either continue to its next delivery or return to the depot. They can complete up to 30 deliveries a day. 

DPD has worked with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) on the initiative in Witham St Hughs. 

$70 million…Israeli cybersecurity startup Torq reports the closing of a $70 million Series C funding round, led by Evolution Equity Partners, with Bessemer Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Greenfield Partners, and Strait Capital participating.

Combined with an expanded Series B in January, Torq has raised a total of $112 million in 2024, bringing the company’s funding since its 2020 inception to $192 million. It will use the new round to increase expansion across EMEA and APAC, hire additional engineering, R&D, and sales talent, and double down on devoting more resources to deliver generative AI enhancements.

Torq’s customer base includes Abnormal Security, Armis, Blackstone, Carvana, Check Point Security, Chipotle, Deepwatch, Lemonade, Lennar, Nubank, Rivian, SentinelOne, Telefonica, Wiz, and ZoomInfo, as well as Fortune 100 consumer packaged goods, fashion, financial, hospitality, and sports apparel companies.

52% and 20%…Celigo has released research highlighting evolving shopping behaviour as Christmas approaches.

Its findings reveal, not just a significant shift from high street to online shopping, but also changes in the culture of Christmas shopping.

Where it was once an event in itself, now, 52% of shoppers spend six hours or less on holiday purchases, with nearly 20% spending just three to four hours. This demand for speed is driving shoppers from high streets to the internet, and from independent retailers to marketplaces and social channels.

£5.5 million…XSite Braehead reports that K1 Speed, an indoor karting operator, will be opening its UK flagship at the entertainment destination.

The facility, featuring the world’s longest indoor karting track, is backed by a £5.5 million investment that will create approximately 80 jobs in Scotland.

Scheduled to open in autumn 2025, K1 Speed will feature a three-decked indoor karting track that spans over 1,000 metres and will be designed to accommodate up to 35 electric karts racing simultaneously. 

K1 Speed, which has 100 locations worldwide, including 70 sites in the USA and locations in international countries such as Canada, Mexico, France and Italy, says it selected Braehead for its rich motorsport history and strategic location near Glasgow’s international airport.

Spanning over 90,000 sq ft., this multi-level track, equipped with the latest in safety technology and advanced timing systems, will cater to racers of all skill levels. The karts, priced at £15,000 each, are capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 mph and accelerating to top speed in seconds.  

In addition to the karting track, the venue will feature an e-sports lounge equipped with premium racing simulators.

£3,000…British consumers who shop directly from manufacturers are saving up to £3,000, according to a new study by economic consultancy Cebr. The research examines the impact of different distribution channels, where fewer intermediaries are in the supply chain, on average basket prices for UK households. 

Commissioned by Chinese e-commerce platform Temu, the findings reveal consumers could save £2,961 annually or £247 on average per month by buying directly from merchants. That’s 46% of consumers’ total category spend per month.

72%…lululemon has released its 2024 Global Wellbeing Report, benchmarking the state of mental, physical and social wellbeing across 15 countries. 

In the UK, the report revealed that Brits are especially challenged by loneliness, with 72% saying it’s important to be more open to talking about loneliness as a society.

They are also turning to physical activity as an opportunity to socialise with others, reflected in the Gen Z led trend of ‘social exercising’, adopted by 54% of the younger generation.  

This comes as the global state of wellbeing identifies a rise in ‘wellbeing burnout’, with one in two people participating in the counterproductive cycle where the relentless pursuit of wellbeing is making them less well.

While the report noted a stronger focus on this area, with 89% of people taking more action than they were a year ago to improve their wellbeing, nearly two-thirds noted that they are struggling with the growing societal demand to support their wellbeing in specific ways.  

3…Jisp has marked the three-year anniversary of its Scan & Save app.

Since its launch in 2021, Scan & Save has earned retailers almost £6 million while shoppers have saved over £2.2 million in that time. Total scans of the app’s AR vouchers also broke through the five million mark, with redemptions leading to sales topping four million.

The number of registered Scan & Save stores also hit 1,000 for the first time since launch, continuing the recruitment of new retailers into the business, while registered users grew to 123,000.

4…There are only four weeks to submit your entries for the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, 25th October.

The awards, sponsored by CADS, 3D Cloud, Retail Technology Show 2025, and Business France celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Download our handy guide to entering the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.

Check out the 2024 categories and download entry forms here.