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H&M Pushes Faster Supply Chains As Western Europe Sales Slow And Profit Gets A One-Off Lift

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 25, 2026

H&M Bets On Speed, Flexibility And Proximity

H&M is accelerating a broad operational reset as it seeks to move faster on fashion cycles, improve efficiency and defend market share in an increasingly unforgiving retail landscape, Chief Executive Daniel Erver said on Thursday.

The Swedish retailer is buying more merchandise with shorter lead times and from factories closer to its core markets, a shift designed to help it respond more quickly to fast-changing trends and erratic weather patterns that can make demand harder to predict.

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“We are able to get product from having a first rough idea to the customer in six weeks, and when we talk about shortening the lead times, it is about increasing the share that we buy in that way,” Erver said in an interview with Reuters. The company is trying to make that model central to its operating playbook rather than an exception.

Western Europe Remains The Pressure Point

The strategy comes as sales growth remains subdued. H&M reported a 1 per cent rise in third-quarter sales in local currency terms, but revenue in Western Europe, its largest market, fell 1 per cent. Erver said consumers in the region have been “under a lot of pressure for a long time,” reflecting the strain on household spending across the continent.

He also pointed to logistics changes, including the closure of H&M’s Belgian warehouse, as a factor weighing on revenue.

“We are not yet where we want to be, but step by step, we are firmly building a faster and more flexible and customer-focussed H&M,” he said.

Energy Costs And Geopolitics Add To The Challenge

H&M is also contending with higher transport costs and supply-chain disruptions linked to the war between the U.S. and Israel and Iran, which has affected shipping and air freight. At the same time, rising fuel prices in Bangladesh — one of H&M’s key sourcing hubs — are adding pressure to production costs.

Erver said the company is working with suppliers in Bangladesh and other markets to accelerate a shift toward renewable energy. That effort, he said, is both a climate imperative and a resilience strategy.

“It’s a good way to accelerate the transformation that we need to lower the CO2 emissions, but also build resilience to geopolitical challenges,” he said. H&M expects to fully phase out coal-fired boilers from its supply chain this year, a meaningful step in its decarbonization push.

One-Off Tariff Refund Lifts Profit

Despite sluggish sales momentum, H&M delivered a sharper-than-expected profit increase in the fiscal third quarter, helped by a one-time refund of U.S. tariff payments. Operating profit rose to 6.04 billion Swedish crowns, or about $608.63 million, from 4.91 billion crowns a year earlier, beating the 5.14 billion crowns forecast in an LSEG poll.

The company cautioned, however, that it does not expect further tariff refunds. That warning, combined with the weak sales trend, disappointed investors. H&M shares fell as much as 3 per cent at the open and were still trading about 2 per cent lower later in the session.

Looking ahead, H&M said September sales would rise 1 per cent in local currencies, matching the pace of the June-to-August quarter but trailing the stronger momentum reported by Inditex, the owner of Zara, which posted 9 per cent growth earlier this month.

Store Closures, Online Growth And A More Selective Footprint

The retailer is continuing to streamline its physical footprint while investing in the parts of the business that can improve speed and availability. H&M has reduced its store count and refurbished existing locations, with around one-fifth of its 4,000 stores upgraded so far.

It is also spending on logistics as online sales have climbed to more than 30 per cent of total revenue. New warehouses in Europe are scheduled to come online this year and next, part of an effort to improve product availability and strengthen fulfillment capacity.

Bracing For Fiercer Competition In E-Commerce

Erver said he welcomed the European Union’s decision to impose customs fees on low-value ecommerce packages, a policy he has argued is necessary to create fairer competition with platforms such as Shein and Temu. He downplayed the direct impact on H&M’s own sales, but the move underscores how aggressively regulators are responding to the rise of ultra-low-cost online retail.

The company’s competitive backdrop remains intense. Shein and Inditex continue to set the pace on speed and pricing, leaving H&M to prove that its turnaround can translate into sustained growth, not just improved margins.

H&M said third-quarter sales totaled 57.189 billion Swedish crowns, compared with 57.017 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the billionaire heirs of founder Erling Persson have quietly increased their stake in the company, fueling speculation that a future privatization bid could eventually emerge. For now, though, the immediate test is more basic: whether H&M can turn operational discipline into durable sales momentum.

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Meta’s Muse Charm Is More Than A Gimmick — It’s A Bet On Fashionable AI

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 25, 2026

Meta’s newly announced Muse Charm is already prompting a familiar question: is this a clever attempt to make AI feel more approachable to mainstream consumers, or simply the latest entry in a growing graveyard of flashy hardware that failed to catch on?

Early reactions have been mixed. But one thing is clear: the form factor is timely. In a market increasingly shaped by aesthetics, personalization, and nostalgia, the Charm arrives with the right visual language for the moment.

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A Device Designed For A Generation That Likes To Carry Its Personality

For Gen Z consumers, especially, the idea of technology as an accessory is hardly far-fetched. In the post-Labubu era, dangling objects have become cultural currency — from keychains and mini plush toys to beauty products reimagined as bag charms. The appeal is not purely decorative. These items function as signals of identity.

That is precisely why the Charm may resonate. Like the beauty-bag charm trend seen across products such as lip glosses, hand sanitizers, and fragrances, the Muse Charm blends utility with self-expression. It is not just a device. It is a style object.

Hailey Bieber’s Rhode lip case helped push that idea into the mainstream by turning a lip product into something closer to a fashion accessory. The brand’s commercial success underscored how powerful that overlap can be: beauty and utility are no longer separate categories, but increasingly part of the same consumer logic.

The same goes for Labubu, the fuzzy collectible that evolved from niche toy to global phenomenon. While demand for the character may have cooled, the broader bag-charm category has not. Analysts now expect the global market for these accessories to surpass $1 billion by 2030.

The Charm Fits A Wider Retro-Tech Revival

Meta’s Muse Charm also taps into a broader retro-tech movement that has been gaining momentum. Digital cameras, flip phones, iPods, CDs, cassette tapes, wired earbuds, and even landline phones are all finding new life among younger consumers who are increasingly skeptical of always-on, algorithmically optimized technology.

That skepticism has created room for objects that feel tangible, controllable, and personal. For many young people, especially women driving a great deal of this trend, physical tech offers something the digital world often does not: a sense of ownership.

That is part of the appeal behind the growing popularity of so-called cyberdecks, DIY portable computers that are often decorated with jewels, flowers, stickers, pearls, and other embellishments. The point is not just function. It is intimacy.

The Apple Watch Trend Shows The Market Already Exists

There is another, more immediate reference point for Muse Charm: the growing TikTok-driven trend of turning older Apple Watches into keychains, pendants, and bag accessories. Across Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Etsy, thousands of such products already exist, ranging from practical straps to decorative cases.

In many cases, these items are being worn less as gadgets and more as fashion objects. That distinction matters. It suggests the market is already primed for devices that blur the line between technology and accessory — especially when the technology is small enough to personalize and visible enough to signal taste.

In that sense, Meta is not inventing a new behavior so much as trying to package an existing one.

Meta’s Biggest Challenge Is Not Design. It Is Trust.

Still, good timing does not guarantee success. The biggest obstacle facing Muse Charm may not be product-market fit, but Meta itself.

The company has spent years eroding consumer trust through repeated privacy controversies, regulatory penalties, and public scrutiny over harms to minors. That history is difficult to separate from any new device that asks users to invite Meta even deeper into their daily lives.

And that is the central tension. If Muse Charm is positioned as a free or low-cost AI companion, the real currency may not be the hardware itself but the data it generates. Meta has said it plans to monetize Muse through a small transaction fee, but the broader business model is unmistakable: highly personalized advertising powered by highly personal behavior.

For consumers, the calculation may come down to a familiar tradeoff. The device may be playful, fashionable, and culturally on point. But whether users are willing to trust Meta with another layer of their lives is a far harder question.

That may ultimately determine whether Muse Charm becomes a breakout product — or just another well-designed gadget that could not overcome the baggage of the company behind it.