Secrets From An H&M Insider: How To Actually Score Marni Tomorrow
Start dusting off your folding chairs and fire up your printer! In anticipation of tomorrow's Marni for H&M launch, we chatted with H&M spokesperson Jennifer Ward about the best shopping practices, biggest customer faux pas, and the real story behind how the whole designer collaborations thing actually works at H&M. Read on to master the lines tomorrow.
What's opening day like for H&M's designer collaborations?
"It’s very different now than in 2004 when we had a lot fewer stores carrying these collections. In bigger cities, we’ve had customers sleeping on the street three days before and collections selling out in 11 minutes. We’ve had some craziness for sure with people flying in from overseas, where they don’t have H&M stores, and these exclusive lines aren’t available. We’ve had such a huge response to different collections. The customers try to snatch up the garments and there is such a high demand that we started putting the limit on the number of items you can buy, so that we give the most customers access to these limited products.
"Security is our number one priority, and we want to make sure we have a safe shopping environment for our customers, so in 2009 for Jimmy Choo, we created to have a designated shopping area only accessible via wristband. Customers were allowed in the area in groups of 20 people and could shop for 15 minutes. We want to be able to reach as many customers as possible, so this system has been very very successful, and our customers definitely appreciated the way we managed that.
"For Versace we had the bracelet system for ladies but not for men, but we found the men’s collection got so crazy that for the Marni collection, we’re doing the bracelet system for both men and women.
"We have a designated section for the designer pieces, so whoever just wants to shop the regular collection can do that without waiting in the lines. We let in 400 customers throughout the day, to shop the designer collection, and after the 400 people come through, the area opens up to the general public.
What's the most surprising thing you've learned about shoppers?
"We have found that the customers really do the research. They’re online, they printed out the items they want, they know their sizes, they’re very calculated, and they’re looking to get their hands on the specific pieces they want. So they come in knowing exactly what they want, and they’re asking for it, and they’re running to get it."
What's opening day like for H&M's designer collaborations?"It’s very different now than in 2004 when we had a lot fewer stores carrying these collections. In bigger cities, we’ve had customers sleeping on the street three days before and collections selling out in 11 minutes. We’ve had some craziness for sure with people flying in from overseas, where they don’t have H&M stores, and these exclusive lines aren’t available. We’ve had such a huge response to different collections. The customers try to snatch up the garments and there is such a high demand that we started putting the limit on the number of items you can buy, so that we give the most customers access to these limited products.
"Security is our number one priority, and we want to make sure we have a safe shopping environment for our customers, so in 2009 for Jimmy Choo, we created to have a designated shopping area only accessible via wristband. Customers were allowed in the area in groups of 20 people and could shop for 15 minutes. We want to be able to reach as many customers as possible, so this system has been very very successful, and our customers definitely appreciated the way we managed that.
"For Versace we had the bracelet system for ladies but not for men, but we found the men’s collection got so crazy that for the Marni collection, we’re doing the bracelet system for both men and women.
"We have a designated section for the designer pieces, so whoever just wants to shop the regular collection can do that without waiting in the lines. We let in 400 customers throughout the day, to shop the designer collection, and after the 400 people come through, the area opens up to the general public.
What's the most surprising thing you've learned about shoppers?
"We have found that the customers really do the research. They’re online, they printed out the items they want, they know their sizes, they’re very calculated, and they’re looking to get their hands on the specific pieces they want. So they come in knowing exactly what they want, and they’re asking for it, and they’re running to get it."
Next
- 1 of 2
in NYC