Marks & Spencer: UK Fashion Retail Business Analysis and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks & Spencer's (M&S) retail business within the UK fashion market. It begins with an introduction to M&S, highlighting its operations and market position. The report then examines key relevant changes in the UK fashion retail sector, including the shift towards online buying and the influence of macro-environmental factors such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal (PESTLE) forces. A detailed PESTLE analysis is presented, assessing the impact of these factors on M&S. The micro-environment is also analyzed, focusing on competitor analysis (particularly H&M) and pricing strategies. The report concludes by suggesting and discussing strategies and tactics that M&S could employ to adapt to these changes, including sustainable practices like eco-friendly materials and payment gateway empowerment. The report aims to provide a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing M&S in the UK fashion retail market and offers actionable recommendations for future success.

Retail Theory and Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
a) Introduction of the company...................................................................................................3
b) Key relevant changes within the UK fashion retail................................................................5
c) Relevant changes within the micro environment....................................................................6
d) Suggest and discuss strategies and tactics that could be used................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Retail sector is currently people leading sector, which has varied customer and peoples
who are purchasing products or services from this industry. Retail means a complete platform
which involves transferring of goods or services by company to consumer's using intermediaries.
These people are basically third party, who uses a support such as resources, funds etc. Role of
retail has led to making of existence of goods or services directly to people using innovative tool
such as in-store display, trail using and sales promotion (Brenes, 2016). Especially, into the
fashion zone, retail firm are continuously expanding its own brand presence either store based or
offline. In fashion, still consumers choice is giving preferences to in-store feel, experiences and
vision. In UK, fashion such as Marks & Spencer, H&M etc. are ruling the market, as they have
higher reach to the customer and top valued product quality & denomination.
This report will be carry on Marks & Spencer headquartered in Manchester, UK. M&S
deals in retail market of the UK and worldwide. It is one of a leading retail business in the UK,
which deals in selling fashion products, groceries, financial services etc. M&S is top on ranking
with market share of 17.6 percent. Report will tell about identification of a market of fashion
retail in the UK and also worldwide. Also, report will also tells about key relevant changes that
needs to be made retail sector of the M&S (Ciravegna, 2017). Also, discussion of a Pestle
analysis and strategies or tactics to en-richness this sector to builds up business existences of the
M&S and also increases existences of the M&S into the UK market. Also, report is all about
growth orientation of a firm as well as how business existences can be raised up to determines
growth expectation of the M&S.
MAIN BODY
a) Introduction of the company
Marks & Spencer is the British multinational retailer headquartered in Westminster, UK. Firm is
specialised in selling high level quality clothing, home products & food products. M&S is listed
on the London stock exchange and comes under top 100 endeavour of the global business. M&S
was founded by Michael marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds. Firm has potential to sell its items
on both offline and online preferences, as business is currently works under offline chain, where
physical and premium outlook stores are exists and daily people flow has been noticed.

Marks & Spencer have higher reach of its customer's and almost grab market size. M&S
have almost 979 stores in an entire UK, out of which only 350 stores used to sell garments &
fashion in comparison to their other successful products. In the fashion industry, M&S have full
time relationship with their supplier, store retailer's as well as logistics support of which selling
and availability of a product has becomes easy and secures.
Sources: Market size & revenue of the M&S, 2018
Given diagram reveals that market size has been grown from 2010 to 2017, but at lower
share. M&S is one of the leading firm in terms of revenues and acquiring customer base on time
to time basis. Along with this, M&S used Brick or mortar stores, which means stores has been
taken on leases or rent by this firm to do business operations (Kamran-Disfani and et. al., 2017).
Th suitable idea is to save cost as well as making additional expenses in making of new stores.
Due to multiple stores, customer are available with option to go to any stores and then buy their
favourite outfit or fashion outfits. Changes such as method of selling using online and using of
a technology will be options for M&S to top level customer, as e-commerce is recognised one of
the leading sector for purchases of own choices.
Illustration 1: Market size & revenue of the M&S

b) Key relevant changes within the UK fashion retail
In UK, businesses of the retail sector is becoming a trend and also, this has made customer,s
habitual to buy and keeps buying things on wider basis. Marks & Spencer is currently operates in
offline stores and still they are doing their best to sell, even currently into era of online buying or
shopping platforms. Buying using e-commerce comes under people own trust and interest on
how they used to evaluates purchasing using e-commerce platform. For not flowing to online,
there are certain macro-environment influences such as economic, legal, social influences, on
which critical analysis will have to be put. For this purpose, Pestle analysis will be explained as
given below:
Political: Political instability, flux on government tenure and Brexit are some forces
which puts emphasises on business regulation of the UK. In UK, where influences of the fashion
retail is high, as like buying cloths and accessories onto the frequent basis. Here, influences of
the political forces would be high and also severe (Pesaran, 2016). Political conflict has forces
M&D to open its new stores and also due to legal restriction, less existence on online platform.
Hence, this forces are needs to have proper control to taken over this fashion retail to the next
level.
Economical: Forces such as interest rates, exchange rates, flux into the currency and less
investment flow are some of the economical forces, which can impact business performances of
the M&S on the longer side. Setting up to online platform requires cost such as paying funds for
setting up of logistics, supply chain management along with structuring of a delivery system.
This is like a financial weight on shoulders of the Marks & Spencer to brings changes into their
macro environmental process.
Social: Awareness of the social norms, people thinking and social perception are some of
the forces which can simply led to effect on functioning of the Marks & Spencer. People in UK
uses to do shopping in groups and also led other to helps while customer is choosing its choice of
clothing. Marks & Spencer has noticed a kind of social cultures or co-operation in their outlet,
when people uses to buy fashion products (Chudik, 2017). Because of such cultural support,
expectancy to shift from offline to online has low chances and for this, influences to the people is
an essential to make shift of people from offline.
Technological: In the retail sector, customers are now started looking to get convenient
buying and initiates the payment at to the higher zone. In the current time, technology is evolved

and in results, this has led to convenience & support to the people. In the current time, payment
to retail outlets has become convenient and with the help of technology, e-gateway for payment
is started using at a productive level. Impact of implementing technology will be threat for M&S
profitability and also increased business potentials. Hence, complete analysis is necessary for this
factor, before applying any current trends.
Economical: Economical factors such as increased using of the plastics bag, higher usage
of polycarbonate in manufacture of the fashion product, emission of the pollution during making
of the clothes, burning of the poly-bag have higher impact on the H&M. Impacts of these critical
forces will be obligatory for M&S to consider to takes corrective courses of action and strategic
action to ensure about protection of an environment on an optimum point of time. If H&M could
not small down impact of these factor, it may led to destruction of their business or profitability
for longer duration. This would M&S to takes corrective courses of action to prevents its own
business functioning.
Legal: Legal regulation such as intellectual property rights such as patents, copyright and
trademarks are three necessary consideration, with a help of which firm uses to protects its own
legal image & brand values. If any of these legal failed, this will lead to legal action/jurisdiction
against/by the Marks & Spencer. Impact will be severe and breakthrough of brand image or
values.
c) Relevant changes within the micro environment
Marks & Spencer is one of the leading British multinational retailer, which deals to sell fashion
outfits, groceries as well as food products. But business is under-process to brings changes in
their internal functioning and implementation of a strategic planning to brings an effectiveness
planning in case of the micro environment such as price, analysis of the competitors, innovation
in product outlook etc., with use of which growth as well as productivity can be brought for the
same (Anand and Grover, 2015). First, this is proved that competitor analysis is important to
know how market is doing and its future based expectancy for longer time period.
Competitor: H&M is also one of the leading fashion retail in the UK, which has brought
changes in offline to fully entered in online businesses. This kind of an analysis is useful to make
production adaptation in buying process of the Marks & Spencer. To attract and retain customer,
H&M is currently working on how to motivates customer's, understands their needs and wants t
at the proactive stage of working. Using fashion outlet, H&M has its focus on attracting near

customer and usage of online websites selling, focus has given to far away living customer's at
the given point of time.
Pricing: This is a part of micro-environment, which deals with deciding prices that will
will be charged by business firm. H&M is currently using penetration pricing to sell its existing
product and now taken price skimming to sell products through online platform. M&S has better
option to uses price skimming when they are looking to targets their customer on online spaces.
This kind of pricing will be helpful to sell business products into the given time period.
During change identification process, this was realised that, Marks & Spencer has its own
weakness such as still traditional way of doing business such as excepting cash and less use of
the payment gateway (Bhattacharya, 2015). In comparison, its own rivalry H&M is doing it as an
initiative to bring cost reduction in fashion retailing, promoting values or messages of high
profitability earnings.
Changes such as skilled manpower, workforce regulation, effective T&D to outlet people
is required to makes credentials of a business together to accomplishes common business goals.
These certain defined changes are necessary to enhances business productivity, profitability as
well as ensures about how these changes can be accompanied or achieves using current strategic
purpose or roles of a business for longer time period.
d) Suggest and discuss strategies and tactics that could be used
Macro-environmental analysis are those relevant analysis which will be useful to suggest and
makes changes outsides of the business premises. From the given pestle analysis, there are some
relevant changes has been founded such as using of the payments such as wallet money and also
digital payments is the suitable option, with the uses of which burden of the cash chaos would be
overcomes. Second one, avoiding use of the poly-bags, in case burnt, realises harmful gases an
toxic air which is not relevant for human and also wildlife at an optimised context or sources of
the time. In context of the Marks & Spencer, strategies and also tactics are as follows:
 To makes out avoidance of the poly-bags, this is an advisory for management of the
M&S to structures the complete policies and regulation to implements the use of the
poly-ethane material which is eco-friendly. Environmental protection act, 2014 will be
used here to takes valuable decision making on protecting environmental, human and
wild life. This is a kind of sustainable practices which would assist Marks & Spencer to

creates its own brand image and brand values. This would assist business firm to correct
decision making on matter of business productivity.
 To implement empowerment of payment gateway, advance technology will be uses such
as server, internet, mobile apps etc. (Hingley and et. al., 2015). To make this, expertise
people will be taken, so that a platform for payment gateway would be establishes. From
this, role of strategic planning will be taken into an existences to do an effective planning
for development of payment gateway to the consumer's to facilitates an ease shifting of
the funds. For this, consumer awareness will be understand, so that Marks & Spencer its
own payment software to enhances payment of the order in very convenient way.
Strategic planning is required in this case to implements all these changes into the defined
manner. For this, customer knowledge will have to be taken care as well as information of the
market to implements the resource planning for the same. These implemented changes can be
makes existed in required manner to establishes organisational goals or targets into given point
of time.
Recommendations:
After the implementation process, there comes process for its evaluation and making
right recommendations and advices for retailer to meet challenges their in middle way of change
implementation. While implementing changes such as payment gateway and sustainable bags,
right vision must be their to be eco-friendly and taken into care to get its right results in right
point of time. This is recommendable that, retailer should realise creative trends running around
the market, especially ease of payment service & usage of the poly-ethane bags and then employ
resources in accordance to that. Budget allocation is required here to implements all these change
s to enhances business productivity at a greater ratio. In the budget, cost will be needs to be
defined and relevant, so that retailer can easily implement the relative changes in given time
period. Here the consideration of a productivity is necessary, which says business organisation
has to be thinks twice a time. Its also recommendable that fashion firm who deals with retail
must kept eye on maximum use of CSR by developing economical, environmental, social based
solution etc., to survive and locate in the retail market effectively.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is concluded that retail sector is one of the growing sector in the UK,
which says that in this location, suitability of doing business is good and compulsive to operates
in defined manner. This report is also focused on same to know and realises the retail theory and
also practices to do so. Also, report has discussed on Pestle analysis and understanding major
challenges for the same. Also, report has its major discussion on key relevant changes in the UK
retail businesses. Also, valuable recommendation are also made on the same and ascertaining
true and valid results out of the same.

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