H&M seasonality question

[Rubin22]

Greetings,

I'm doing a project on H&M. I have the global quarterly sales from 2009 till 2012, and the pattern is always the following: second quarter (march,april,may) and last quarter (september,october,november) always exhibit the highest amount of sales, whereas the other two quarters exhibit a relative decrease. So, the pattern is: Q1-down,Q2-up,Q3-down,Q4-up. in other words, there's a clear seasonality pattern that repeats itself. My question is, do you know what causes or explains this pattern? Why are the second and fourth quarters always higher in sales, whereas the other two always show lower numbers? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RXS09]

2nd Quarter-People are buying spring/summer clothes. There are also likely to be big sales on left over F/W clothing

4th- F/W is when most people are flexing their ~fashion muscles~ so it makes sense that sales would be highest then.

 

[thekunk07]

also designer collars boost numbers

 

[Rubin22]

2nd Quarter-People are buying spring/summer clothes. There are also likely to be big sales on left over F/W clothing

4th- F/W is when most people are flexing their ~fashion muscles~ so it makes sense that sales would be highest then.

What do you mean by "flexing fashion muscles"?

 

[RXS09]

Quote: People have a lot more options when it comes to fall/winter wear.

In summer, most people have very simple outfits, ex.shirt/shorts/shoes-- meanwhile in F/W outfits are much more dynamic as they allow for layering.

More clothes=more money spent by consumers, and more revenue for companies

1st Quarter- People are likely still buying outerwear from the previous year that is on sale, as well as buying clothes for S/S

2nd/3rd-Sales are less because people already have the clothes that they need. Whatever clothes are being sold are relatively cheap(Shirts, shorts, bathing suits)

4th- Boost in sales as companies release outerwear and have plenty of sales to go along with it(ex. Black Friday/Christmas Sales)

It's important to remember that while clothes are being sold in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, shirts and shorts are much less expensive than a coat, sweater, and a pair of pants

 

[Rubin22]

People have a lot more options when it comes to fall/winter wear.

In summer, most people have very simple outfits, ex.shirt/shorts/shoes-- meanwhile in F/W outfits are much more dynamic as they allow for layering.

More clothes=more money spent by consumers, and more revenue for companies

1st Quarter- People are likely still buying outerwear from the previous year that is on sale, as well as buying clothes for S/S

2nd/3rd-Sales are less because people already have the clothes that they need. Whatever clothes are being sold are relatively cheap(Shirts, shorts, bathing suits)

4th- Boost in sales as companies release outerwear and have plenty of sales to go along with it(ex. Black Friday/Christmas Sales)

It's important to remember that while clothes are being sold in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, shirts and shorts are much less expensive than a coat, sweater, and a pair of pants

I understand. Thank you for your insight.