The H&M Thread

[sharbear508]

i went into my local H&M today and they had a poster with the model wearing the white lace biker jacket.

i asked a sales assistant where the item was.

he said "oh, i think that sold out 3 weeks ago, in fact everything the model is wearing sold out".

i think he's full of crap.

I think he is too. If it had been out anywhere, there'd probably be a street style photo somewhere on the internet by now.

 

[celest]

Oh man. This is why I never believe sales assistants.

 

[lightened]

I think he is too. If it had been out anywhere, there'd probably be a street style photo somewhere on the internet by now.

lol you're right. you know it's out when people on lookbook have bombarded the page with the lace jacket. just look at that one military jacket--IT WAS EVERYWHERE.

 

[lucy92]

i think i should have said "gee, the other sales assistant i asked two days ago said it hadnt come in yet".

i think that is probably their stock answer about anything they dont remember seeing "its sold out" or "all we have is out there" (gesture to the sales floor).

so annoying. i hope i see the same guy in a few days. i'm going to ask him again.

 

[The_Ida]

I would love to see Celine/Chloe/Missoni collaboration ...

YES! I have been so disappointed with the last collabs. Sonya Rykiel isn't relevant to me at all.

 

[sharbear508]

lol you're right. you know it's out when people on lookbook have bombarded the page with the lace jacket. just look at that one military jacket--IT WAS EVERYWHERE.

Exactly! There's no way the release of that lace jacket could escape being announced via Lookbook a million times.

It really annoys me when SA's are so lacking in product knowledge. I always seem to know more about what they have on their floors than they do. Although that does say something about how often I'm there, LOL...

 

[Vegalyn]

It really annoys me when SA's are so lacking in product knowledge. I always seem to know more about what they have on their floors than they do. Although that does say something about how often I'm there, LOL...

haha, I really do believe that the SA's in H&M only re-arrange and fold up clothing. Any question about any product is answered by: well, all we have is out here, if it's not in the store, then it's been sold out.

usually they don't have any info about re-stocking either. On this aspect, the Zara SA's are much more eager to help.

 

[honeycombchild]

Generally, the H&M SA's will have no idea about re-stocking, as it's not something they deal with. The stores themselves have no idea what's coming in their deliveries or when. They don't know what they've got till they open their delivery boxes each morning and put it out.

 

[SusanSuperstar]

I'm just waiting for the sales to happen in this collection so I can then pounce on the crown brooch and jewel studded leggings. The rest of the collection 'depends'. If they're only going down by 50%, then I'm just going to save that money and put it elsewhere.
I'm not a huge fan of stripes ...or yellow.

Oh that would be fab. I hope they do it. I was so when they reduced all the expensive stuff I bought from 30 to 1,95!

 

[Blondes]

i think that is probably their stock answer about anything they dont remember seeing "its sold out" or "all we have is out there" (gesture to the sales floor).

Or "Maybe it's on the other floor? Ask them up there." Don't they rotate around the stores at all? It's like the different floors are on different planets or something.

 

[Desi]

people could be assigned departments which is mainly where they stay. At least that is how it is at my job (not H&M).

 

[honeycombchild]

You're assigned to a floor/department, and very rarely move to another one unless it's to cover the tills or such. It's a bit full on to expect someone to know about the stock on every floor, especially with the sheer volume of stock H&M carries at anyone time.

 

[sharbear508]

That's true...it would be unreasonable to expect someone to know all the stock in the entire store. But I asked a SA working in the Divided section whether the lace biker jacket in the lookbook had come in yet and she had no idea what I was talking about. That seems a bit poor to me.

Vegalyn,I find Zara associates a bit more helpful too. They can at least pinpoint which days of the week are truck days. I asked that of a H&M associate and they said every day except Sunday, so that really didn't narrow things down for me at all!

 

[diesanni]

I find Zara associates a bit more helpful too. They can at least pinpoint which days of the week are truck days. I asked that of a H&M associate and they said every day except Sunday, so that really didn't narrow things down for me at all!

They do get new stock everyday, so what else was she supposed to say?

The new stock arrives in the morning and there are about two people who unpack it and they are the only ones who know what has come in. By the time you go there in later their stint has long ended in the morning already and the new assistants simply have no time to go through all the rags to see what's new. And none of them know what item will arrive when because they're not told anything.

 

[emailme.]

in my opinion i think there is something wrong with only two associates knowing what they have in stock.

im not expecting an employee to know all the merchandise they have but i at least want them to have sift through their designated area with what they do have. so when they are asked they can reply, "I think we have them over here..." sometimes.

Product knowledge is important to me as a customer because when a customer know more about your product , such as those featured in their site (lace moto jacket), that irks me a little bit.

H&M has to change this because its an issue to customers and employees are getting the flack for it.

P.S i do like that employees don't pester you or follow you around.

 

[sharbear508]

The SA's don't have to know every piece on the floor (obviously that's not possible), but surely some knowledge of those few that are featured in the lookbook isn't unreasonable to expect. I'm not blaming the SA's though - it's the company that's not arming them with the tools they need. The solution could be as simple as posting up the lookbook photos in the staff room so the SA's are at least familiar with them. Even if they can't say when the pieces will be arriving, they can at least give a definitive answer as to whether they were already in and sold out or are hiding on a rack around the corner.

 

[Blondes]

I'm not blaming the SA's though - it's the company that's not arming them with the tools they need.

Yes, of course. If I complain here about not getting help in the store, I'm not blaming the individual SA. It's that the company clearly doesn't have the ambition that the SA's should have product knowledge that bugs me.

 

[advo]

It very much depend on whom you ask. Those who work full-time will definitely have a better knowledge of the stock. But most of them leave around afternoon, and it's mostly part-time workers left. And few of them know much about the stock.

 

[ellesea]

You get what you pay for, both in service and in product. H&M is a low-price, high-trend turnover store. It comes in fast, it goes out fast. If you're looking for a store where employees have that product knowledge training....even at a minimum? Expect the stock to be much more stagnant, the prices higher, the quality better.

It doesn't make business sense for their employees to have any training beyond what they give themselves by taking a closer look while folding & restocking. What's the point of product knowledge when the item may be out the door by the end of the week?

At least with Zara, they market themselves as a higher-end mall store in line with Club Monaco, BR, J.Crew, etc. price range. All those stores have some degree of "sales" service. H&M is more on par with Forever21 which has the same lack thereof.

 

[celest]

I think we're only trying to find excuses for service we're so used to seeing because we haven't seen the same equivalent matched at the same price point.

I've found that in Sweden, the H&M customer service (even online) is refreshing. While the product knowledge is indeed, lacking, I think it's generally why people should do as much research as possible. If you know the store sale strategies like the back of your hand, it's like coming in and going out prepared; a success.

What I can't get passed is why people who SUCK at the job and only fulfil minimum quota still have work; and those who know the company like the back of their hand, who can more likely hit sales targets with the amount of insight and product knowledge they receive and research on their own- are still unemployed.
It just makes me think the recruiting agency didn't do a thorough enough job to match their company profile to the employees they ended up hiring. That or in the case of places like Melbourne, it's a case of 'i know you, we go way back- let me in'. There are more direct things I'd like to say about it, but I'd end up writing a thesis in order not to offend.