Strategic Analysis of M&S in UK Fashion Retail: Theory & Practice

This project provides an in-depth analysis of Marks & Spencer's retail strategies and practices within the UK fashion market. It begins with a background of the company, highlighting its history, global presence, and commitment to sustainability. The project then examines key changes within the UK fashion retail sector using PESTLE analysis, covering political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting the industry. Furthermore, it assesses the micro-environment using Porter's Five Forces and SWOT analysis to understand the competitive landscape. The project concludes by recommending strategies and tactics for Marks & Spencer to adapt to these changes, improve customer satisfaction, and maintain a competitive edge, emphasizing the importance of technological innovation and sustainable practices. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Background to Company.........................................................................................................................3
Key relevant changes within Fashion retail of UK:.................................................................................3
Changes in the micro environment:.........................................................................................................6
Strategies and tactics that could be used:.................................................................................................7
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Retailing is a crucial part of business wherein goods are provided to the end customers.
Here, retailer buy the goods from manufacturer and then make it available to the final users. In
Fashion industry, retailing is considered as highly important concept. In the current world,
fashion retailing is important in order to make money. In addition, it makes the retailers enable to
earn significant profit margin in an efficient manner. Apart from this, it also helps the customers
to get necessary fashion items at reasonable price (Pallagst, 2017). For the current report, Marks
& Spencer is taken into consideration which is one of the major multinational retailers based on
UK. It was founded in 1884 and currently has nearly 1037 stores within UK (Marks and Spencer
- Statistics & Facts). The report will cover change in the macro environment with the application
of PESTLE analysis. Additionally, changes in the micro environment will also be discussed
along with the suitable strategies to be used to deal with the situation. Further, it will include the
necessary recommendations for further improvement.
Background to Company
Marks and Spencer is the most renowned retailer of UK which is specialized in selling
clothes, fashion products, home products and more. It was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks
and currently operating business at global level. The company was founded with a partnership
between Marks & Polish Jew. Apart from the clothing, M & S is also known for including
quality, fresh and innovative credentials in the food. Additionally, the business entity has nearly
1509 stores globally and also they maintain nearly 100 websites globally. For this purpose, the
business entity is likely to enter in new market places by having physical stores and online
websites (Marks & Spencer, 2021). Additionally, the company has higher number of employees
who help them in running the business efficiently. In current time, M & S has more than 78,000
employees working with them. The company is highly concern regarding the sustainability thus
they adopt necessary environment friendly and sustainable approaches in order to run the
business efficiently.

Key relevant changes within Fashion retail of UK:
Fashion industry of UK comprises ample of factors which put a profound impact on the
overall functioning of the companies within the industry. In this context, the PESTLE analysis of
the fashion industry is mentioned below:
Political Factors: The fashion industry of UK maintains a significant reputation at the
global level. The recent lockdown and adverse economic conditions profoundly affected the
fashion industry of the country. Therefore, the industry is in the requirement of financial
assistance and support (Latz and Mulvihill, 2017).
Political Stability:
In UK, the political stability will create opportunities for the large fashion retailer like
Marks & Spencer. It will help the company in future growth & enlargement.
Brexit:
Brexit hampered the trade relation of European countries and UK. It has direct impact on
the business of the largest fashion retailer of UK as they cannot exchange the necessary material
and resources from European countries any more (Fernie and Grant, 2019).
Economical Factors: In UK, manufacturing clothes is highly expensive thus several
retailers produce outsources the clothes to earn potential amount of profit. In context of Marks
and Spencer, they are also highly affected with change in the economical conditions of the
country.
Impact of recession:
Recession majorly affects the fashion industry as people stop to buy expensive products
at the time of recession. Marks & Spencer faced deep decline in the sales during the time of
pandemic (Martino and et. al., 2016).
Social Factors: The people of UK are highly fashion oriented thus there is huge scope
for the fashion companies to grow in the future. In case of Marks & Spencer, they can also earn
high profit by offering creative, unique fashion to the people.

Non-Trendy Trend: Marks & Spencer is a forerunner company and has significant
reputation in the market of UK. It is considered as an old and traditional supermarket chain
which offers quality products but lack in terms of innovation (Parker and Wang, 2016). New
retail chain of the organization is started every year but it is considered less trendy. In this
situation, the organization is required to start producing trendy and fashionable products to fulfill
the market demand in an efficient manner.
Technological Factors: now, several people are buying the products online as they are
highly inclined towards the use of technology to purchase the fashion products. There are already
well-establishes e-commerce fashion brand names in UK. In this context, Marks & Spencer is
also improving the technology aspect of business to gain the attention of huge number of buyers.
 Self-Checkouts: Marks & Spencer has implemented self-checkout facilities at its stores.
It will not only facilitate ease in the business but will also enhance the overall customer
experience in an efficient manner.
 Online Shopping: According to the current trend of online marketing, Marks & Spencer
maintains significant presence at different e-commerce platform.
Legal Factors: In UK, the fashion industry is required to follow ample of rules and
regulations like any other business entity. They are required to follow workplace act, equality
act, consumer protection act and more (Arunraj and Ahrens, 2016).
 Tax regulations: Being a multinational fashion retailer, Marks & Spencer needs to
follow tax regulations, customs and other such laws while exchanging good from other
countries. Here, it is imperative to follow the necessary regulations in order to run
business smoothly in future period of time.
Environmental Factors: Fashion industry is considered as one of major contributors in gas
emission and other environmental issues. Here, the use of hazardous ingredients might cause
great harm to the environment (Thompson and McLarney, 2017). Therefore, it is imperative for
Marks & Spencer to follow suitable environmental regulations in order to ensure long-term
sustainability in future.

 Sustainable produce: Marks & Spencer is known as one of the most sustainable retailers
globally. The company follows sustainable approaches in order to produce eco-friendly
products efficiently.
 Fair Trade: Marks & Spencer is likely to follow fair trade practices which also have
positive impact on the environment. Following fair trade practices helps the business
entity to ensure long-term growth & success in the competitive market.
Changes in the micro environment:
Micro environment refers to the immediate environment of an organization. Basically, it
considers the internal resources, competencies of the organization which has direct impact on the
success of the entity. These elements include suppliers, competitors, marketing intermediaries,
customers and more. In case of Marks & Spencer Porter’s five forces is applied to understand the
competitive environment in an effective manner.
Threat of new entrants: In fashion industry, there is requirement of huge initial
investment required to get enter (Pantano and Vannucci, 2019). Here, Marks & Spencer has
formulated a significant presence in the respective industry hence it is quite difficult for a new
firms to enter & sustain within the industry.
Bargaining power of buyers: There are ample of fashion retailers present in UK.
Customers have option to choose quality products at affordable price. Hence, bargaining power
of the customers is high in case of the respective company.
Bargaining power of suppliers: Marks and Spencer is a large multinational brand. They
are connected with several suppliers. Therefore, the bargaining power of the suppliers is low as
the company has option to purchase products from different vendors.
Threat of Substitute: In clothing industry, there are ample of options available to the
buyers. They can easily switch from one brand to other which increased threat of substitute for
the respective organization (Kautish and Sharma, 2018).
Competitive rivalry: Due to the presence of higher number of competitive firms,
competition is high in the fashion industry. Marks & Spencer is facing high competition rivalry
as other competitive firms are also present in the market. Here, the major competitors of the

respective organization are H & M, Zara, Gap and more. It is imperative for M & S to introduce
creativity and innovation in the existing product so that they can create a differentiation in the
competitive market place.
SWOT analysis:
Strength Weakness
 The brand image of Marks & Spencer
is clear wherein they are targeting to
the premium group of buyers by selling
modern, sophisticated fashion products.
 The wide presence of M & S is also a
major strength of the company. It has
presence at different countries.
Additionally, the brand also maintains
remarkable presence at online platform.
 In Marks & Spencer, customer
satisfaction is relatively low as the
customers have issue with the return
policy of the company.
 The company failed in successful
penetration in the market of Asia and
middle east due to the designs and
patterns of the clothes.
Opportunities Threats
 Marks & Spencer has the opportunity
to diversify the business in different
segments. They can add-on new
products in the existing product line in
order to grab the attention of more
number of customers.
 The company can expand business in
more countries to improve the existing
sales & profit margin in an efficient
manner.
 The company is facing great
competition due to the presence of
several number of competitors in the
market.
 Huge number of rival firms can easily
hamper the existing market presence of
Marks & Spencer in significant manner
(Choi, 2019).
Strategies and tactics that could be used:
From the above-mentioned macro analysis, it is found that the company is working in a
continuous changing micro environment. Here, the elements of macro environment put a

profound impact on the overall functioning of the business entity. In this context, the necessary
strategies and tactics which need to implement by the company are mentioned below:
 It is suggested that the company is required to make changes in the policies so that they
can survive in the political environment of different countries. It is analyzed that Marks
& Spencer is working in various countries globally. Here, the political environment of
different countries is likely to change by the amendments and modifications introduced
by the government in timely manner. In this situation, the company is required to
understand the changing environment of different countries in order to ensure long-term
survival in current environment.
 It is analyzed that needs and requirements of the customers are changing in current time.
Now, people look forward to purchase trendy and fashionable clothes. In UK, people are
highly inclined towards fashion. However, Marks & Spencer is a forerunner brand which
is considered for a brand of older generation. It is suggested that the organization is
required to offer creative & unique products to the customers as per the existing trend. It
will help the brand in ensuring long-term survival in the competitive market.
Additionally, it will allow the company to earn substantial amount of profit margin in an
efficient manner.
 In current time, the use of technology in business is increasing hence it is imperative to
incorporate new, advance & unique techniques in business. In fashion industry,
technology plays a major role in offering better & effective experience to the customers.
In this context, Marks & Spencer is required to update the technology and software so
that the entity can provide significant experience to the buyers. Also, the company is
required to implement updated techniques, artificial intelligence in business operations in
order to improve the overall shopping experience in an efficient manner.
Through the micro environment, it is monitored that Marks and Spencer is required to make
improvement in the internal environment to utilize the resources efficiently. In this context, the
necessary strategies are mentioned below:
 The company is lacking in terms of customer satisfaction hence they are required to adopt
suitable offers in order to gain the attention of the buyers. In this context, the organization
is required to offer discounts, loyalty cards and other such lucrative offers to the

customers so that they get attracted towards the products of the organization in an
efficient manner.
 It is suggested that Marks & Spencer needs to expand the business in Asian countries.
Also, they are required to do a proper market research before expanding the business in
these countries. It will help the organization to earn high amount of profit by enlarging
the market presence in significant manner.
Recommendations
 It is suggested that Marks and Spencer is required to adopt effective promotion and
advertisement tools to promote the products in an efficient manner. For this purpose, the
company can improve its advertisement methods by adopting online and digital methods
of promotion. It will help the business entity to enhance the presence of business
efficiently. In addition, the company can earn significant amount of profit by enhancing
the presence of business in market place.
 Marks & Spence is required to adopt innovative and unique approaches to gain the
attention of the buyers. The company is working in the highly competitive environment
thus including innovative features has become important for the organization to ensure
long-term presence in market place. It will help in improving the market reputation of the
brand. Further, innovation will make the company enable to fulfill the requirements of
the buyers in significant manner.
 It is suggested that Marks & Spencer needs to improve its leadership practices. Here, the
company is required to provide the best possible leadership to the employees so that they
can perform the assigned work in the best possible way. Apart from this, leadership will
make the employees enable to contribute towards the success of the business entity
significantly. Here, the proper leadership will help the entity in maintaining proper
communication with the employees so that the company can grow in the future period of
time.
The above-stated recommendations are based on the analysis of internal and external
environment of Marks and Spencer. Here, the implementation of these strategies will help the
organization in improving the market image in significant manner.

Conclusion
Out of the above-mentioned information, it is summarized that retailing is important
aspect in the fashion industry. Through retailing, it is possible to make the products available to
the end-users in timely manner. In UK, there are various large fashion retailers. The above study
is based on Marks & Spencer that is a renowned retailed based on UK. It is concluded that the
macro environment of the fashion industry is changing which has a direct impact on the
operations of the business entity. Additionally, there is discussion regarding changes in the micro
environment of business through SWOT analysis. It is summarized that the entity is required to
improve its policies, adopt innovation, enhance the promotional and advertisement strategies to
inflate the sales and revenue of business in significant manner.

References
Books and journals
Arunraj, N.S. and Ahrens, D., 2016. Estimation of non-catastrophic weather impacts for retail
industry. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
Choi, T.M., 2019. Fashion retail supply chain management: A systems optimization approach.
CRC Press.
Fernie, J. and Grant, D.B., 2019. Fashion logistics: Insights into the fashion retail supply chain.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Kautish, P. and Sharma, R., 2018. Consumer values, fashion consciousness and behavioural
intentions in the online fashion retail sector. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management.
Latz, A.O. and Mulvihill, T.M., 2017. Photovoice research in education and beyond: A practical
guide from theory to exhibition. Routledge.
Martino and et. al., 2016. Optimisation of the replenishment problem in the Fashion Retail
Industry using Tabu-Bees algorithm. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 49(12), pp.1685-1690.
Pallagst, K.M., 2017. Growth management in the US: Between theory and practice. Routledge.
Pantano, E. and Vannucci, V., 2019. Who is innovating? An exploratory research of digital
technologies diffusion in retail industry. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 49,
pp.297-304.\
Parker, C.J. and Wang, H., 2016. Examining hedonic and utilitarian motivations for m-
commerce fashion retail app engagement. Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management: An International Journal.
Thompson, J. and McLarney, C., 2017. What effects will the strategy changes undertaken by
next Plc have on themselves and their competition in the UK Clothing Retail
Market?. Journal of Commerce and Management Thought, 8(2), pp.234-264.

Online
Marks and Spencer - Statistics & Facts.[Online].Available through:<
https://www.statista.com/topics/3707/marks-and-spencer/>
Marks and Spencer, 2021. About Us .[Online]. Available through:<
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/>