Clothing manufacturer H&M Group has announced its final withdrawal from Russia. About says on the manufacturer’s website.
“After careful consideration, we consider it impossible to continue our business in Russia,” said Helena Helmersson, CEO of H&M Group.
As part of the liquidation of the products, the company will temporarily open physical stores from August. H&M explained to RIA Novosti that there is no firm date for the opening of stores for sale in Russia, it will be in August, but not necessarily from day one. According to Mash, the sale will continue until all 15 million units are sold from the warehouse. There will be no online sales, there will be restrictions on entry. Employees will make their own sales with a 25% discount.
H&M has 130 stores in its malls.
H&M Group announced on March 2 that its sales in Russia were temporarily suspended due to a special operation in Ukraine. Later, the clothing manufacturer released a report in which it estimated losses from store closures in the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine. According to the retailer, losses in the second quarter amounted to 1.2 billion rubles.
The H&M Group was founded in 1947. COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories, H&M HOME, ARKET etc. manages the chains. It has been operating in Russia since 2009.
Why won’t it be online?
According to experts, the management of the company decided to abandon the sale on the Internet in order to avoid a repeat of the situation with IKEA.
“The sale of H&M products will obviously be at a significant discount. Therefore, it can be expected that technical problems will arise due to the large number of people who want to buy goods at discounted prices. The IKEA example is a clear confirmation of this,” says Alexander Pavlovsky, partner at law firm atLegal.
He agreed with the Associate Professor of the Department of International Business and Customs of the Russian University of Economics. GV Plekhanova Anastasia Prikladova.
“Considering the convenient location of H&M stores and the online problems, management made such a decision – there will be restrictions on entry as the flow of potential buyers increases. And queues often attract visitors who want to buy a scarce item. This results in higher demand. This will allow H&M to reduce the discount size and the malls will get more traffic. This will have a positive impact on revenue,” says Prikladova.
How to return a defective product
Parthenon’s Leading Attorney, Pavel Utkin, pointed out that final sales will be subject to the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act. So you can return or exchange the product within 14 days. For this, the product should not be used, its presentation and packaging should be protected. It is desirable, but not necessary, to have a check. According to Utkin, it is impossible to refuse a refund solely on the basis of the absence of a check – this is a violation of the law.
“The consumer has the right to demand from the seller: replacement for a product of the same brand (model, product), replacement of the same product with a recalculation of another brand (model, article). purchase price.
The customer may demand a proportional reduction in the purchase price, promptly free of charge of defects in the goods or reimbursement of costs for correction by the consumer or the store. consumer rights.
According to the lawyer, it is possible to refuse to fulfill the contract of sale and demand a refund of the amount paid for the goods. At the seller’s request and at his own expense, the consumer must return the defective product.
“At the same time, the consumer has the right to demand full compensation for the losses incurred due to the sale of poor quality goods. In case of non-fulfillment of consumer requirements, he can resort to Rospotrebnadzor or to the court, ”Bolshagina summarized.