Business Controlling & Assortment Planning at H&M

Paula Unghanse, Product Planner, and Beatrice Borgh, Business Controller & RM alumni, led the workshop by providing insight into their roles at H&M. They walked students through their weekly and quarterly schedules, showing how the planner and controller roles offer different perspectives that complement each other throughout the assortment planning process.

Students then put their learning into practice through a series of cases, stepping into both roles and applying sales data and KPIs to commercial decisions. As planners, they developed buying strategies and assessed performance across different channels, while as controllers, they offered recommendations for the assortment strategy for both the current season and seasons ahead. The cases demonstrated how the two roles come together in shaping an assortment that responds to customer demand while balancing sales opportunities and inventory risk.

A big thank you to Paula and Beatrice for sharing their expertise and giving students an inside look at the commercial decision-making behind H&M’s assortment, as well as to Emma Hüll for organising such an engaging and interactive workshop.

Emily Weil, Key Account Manager, H&M Retail Club 2026/27