H&M launches B2B Creator Studio, meets growing need for on-demand services

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 5, 2021

H&M Group said this week that it’s launching new initiatives “fuelled by consumers and businesses wanting more choice, greater personalisation and increased flexibility”. This means “the world is seeing significant growth in the area of on-demand services” and it’s responding. 

Creator Studio, a new service from H&M Group Business Ventures, is a global platform and service for the merchandise industry that will offer creators on-demand printing.

It uses the assets built by the H&M over several years, with a mission “to create a new standard for merchandise through technology”. 

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The company said that “thanks to a lean production process, made-to-order digital printing and e-commerce set-up and integrations, Creator Studio is aiming to lower the barriers for brands and creators to offer good quality merchandise”. 

To scale the business, Creator Studio will grow its client base by “onboarding a select number of global brands and creators and expand its offering with experiences beyond traditional merchandise”.

It added that finding innovative ways to engage and co-create with customers “is one of the many ways we are building more meaningful relationships with them”. It follows on from other on-demand services within the group – such as Weekday’s use of 3D scanning technology to produce customised jeans, to Singular Society’s personalised ceramics.

Ellen Svanström, Head of Business Ventures at the group, said: “The customer of today is demanding more personalised products and experiences than ever. With our investments and initiatives within on-demand printing, we can really create value for the customer, external partners as well as for the H&M group and be a force for change in the merchandise industry. We enable creators to quickly tailor their message to their fans and at the same time reduce the risk of over production.”

As well as that launch, its investment arm H&M CO:LAB has invested in Printify, a six-year-old print-on-demand network with an e-commerce platform that “enables anyone to start a business and create their own unique products with close to zero upfront investment and as little risk as possible, by managing both printing and distribution”. It’s designed to “move the world towards on-demand production while helping merchants build sustainable businesses”.