International Marketing Management: M&S in the Indian Market

This report explores Marks & Spencer's (M&S) potential in the Indian market, examining the impact of globalisation on its products and services. It evaluates opportunities in the Indian market, considering customer behavior towards competitive products and the importance of understanding cultural and geographical differences. The report suggests marketing strategies for M&S, including segmentation, targeting, positioning, and a tailored marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) to meet Indian consumer preferences. Entry methods such as partnerships and franchising are recommended to mitigate risks and leverage local expertise. The ultimate objective is for M&S to become a leading retailer in India, increasing profitability by adapting to local market dynamics and consumer needs. Desklib provides this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

International Marketing
Management

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Globalisation has allowed organisations to identify the potential market and to develop
strategies which can help to explore such potential markets. The report has discussed the
globalisation drivers and its impact upon global success of company. It has also evaluated the
customer decision making factors influencing international operations of the organisation. The
study has also provided the marketing strategies which can help Marks & Spencer to gain
success in Indian market as well as captured by company in its domestic UK market.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Evolution of products and services with globalisation................................................................3
Opportunities in international market..........................................................................................4
Customer behaviour towards competitive products in international market...............................5
Marketing strategy.......................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERNCES...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is defined as the integration and interaction process between various
nations, governments and companies of different countries through drivers such as investments,
international trade and information technology (Keegan, 2017). Globalisation emerges as key
factor affecting the business activities and growth opportunities for the organisations. Marks &
Spencer (M&S) is leading United Kingdom based retail service providers. The services and
products of organisation have greatly evolved with the globalisation process. The report will
discuss the vast opportunities for M&S in Asian and developing markets such as India. It will
also evaluate the customer perspectives and various marketing objectives which can help
company to achieve success in overseas market.
MAIN BODY
Evolution of products and services with globalisation
M&S was introduced in 1884 as public company which provided food services, clothing
and household stuffs. Initially the idea for the retailer was to provide all types of services to its
customers at one place. With plenty of stores in 1999 company began selling of its products by
its website and other online platforms (A Short History of Marks & Spencer, 2020). The
globalisation forced an integration of technology and retail services which developed an
inseparable connection between retailing and internet. The globalisation inspired retailers to seek
for the business opportunity which uses each and every inch of the retail store space. The wave
of globalisation gave customers a vast range of choices for the products and services.
Thus to meet these needs the service provider also began to use contemporary
technologies such as social media, home delivery services and online shopping as way to
enhance customer experience. With the time and strengthening of retail industry customers are
also allowed to make faster transactions as well as to buy products on credit facilities as well.
Another significant impact of globalisation is increasing competition (De Mooij, 2018). In
domestic market where companies are saturated it is possible for them to expand and move to
foreign business. For this purpose retailers are also analysing the customer behaviours in
international market so that retail experience can be improved and make more personalised.

In the next five years the global trends will bring significant changes in the services of
M&S. The most dominating global driver will be technology. Thus organisation may observe
integration of more advanced information technology such as virtual reality, artificial
intelligence or robots for assisting customers. The logistic and packaging techniques will also be
enhanced with improved sensor driven packaging so that needs of increasing e-commerce
volume can be meet by the organisation (Kotler and et.al., 2018). Developing countries such as
China may give tough competition in the form of completely digitalised retailers. As a result of
this companies from West such as M&S may not find it easy to penetrate in the Asian market as
it seems today. At present the marketing strategies have very limited focus on sustainability.
However in the upcoming years retailers will require the more sustainable approaches in their
retail operations. The rapid environmental changes such as climate change, pandemics like
Covid-19 can demand for adopting a more secure and strengthened network of supply in retail
services so that quality services can be delivered continuously.
Opportunities in international market
International market such as India is considered as potential market segment for the
foreign retailers such as M&S. The large population of India, nearly 2 billion along with very
limited number of existing supermarkets in the country is one of the reasons which can ensure
the success of global retailers in the country. Due to limited presence of competition and nature
of developing economy the acceptance of international brands is very easy and high
(Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott, 2017). At present the Indian economy can be considered
as in stable and good state and thus middle class population of India is also encouraging doors
for increased client base. The huge success and good will of M&S in domestic market is well
known in overseas. Thus it will not be difficult for the organisation to explore that opportunity.
The Indian market is also considered as diverse in culture and thus in order to establish in
the market it is very important for the retailers to understand the geographical as well as cultural
differences in the country. This factor also demands that for the successful service providers
retailers must have a wide range of choice for products and services which can meet the needs of
all potential buyers. This also gives an option to the service provider to continuously have
innovation in its products and increase profitability without witnessing saturation level (Blut,
Teller and Floh, 2018). Once with the successful establishment in the Indian market M&S will

also be able to open its door to other Asian countries and to increase its profitability and market
share as international brand.
Customer behaviour towards competitive products in international market
At present Indian market is flood with the presence of many international brands such as
Zara, H&M and many more in the list. The trend of retailers is rapidly increasing in India and is
becoming popular particularly among middle average income groups. The pricing and social
perception is one of the factors which affect the success in the proposed market. Most of the
people in India used to prefer store based shopping and used to have less faith on the online
purchasing (Jayasuriya, Azam and Ferdous, 2017). Thus to attract such customers M&S has
initiated its services with number of stores in major cities of India so that brand awareness can be
created through physical presence. The success in UK market and visualisation of foreign brand
has been one of the factors which attract the high income or upper class customers who are in
search of international brands from long term.
For M&S its brand value is one of the ways to attract such customers who make purchase
decisions on the basis of brand value. At present India has very limited presence of such
international brands. However in the recent years there has been increase in such foreign
companies which is also gaining attention of middle income groups. Such type of customer
segment consider existing retailers like M&S as convenient stores where each and every product
can be get with efficient time management. However the pricing factor plays a crucial role in
meeting needs of those customers. The middle income group consumers in India prefer retailers
which gives low prices and more benefits such as loyalty rewards and gift coupons. Thus
existing customer preference is mainly based on pricing and promotional factors. The potential
customers in India used to prefer brands which have comparatively low pricing and more
innovative products as per the consumer needs.
In India there is major customer segment which still prefer offline retailing. Thus as
compare to the other competitors M&S have an additional benefits. For such types of consumers
organisation not only have online retail services but also has well furnished and attractive stores.
It makes it very convenient for the consumers to choose the services (Dimitrova, Rosenbloom
and Andras, 2016). Contrary to this, service providers which do not have much physical presence
and operates mainly through online platform have limited exposure to customers. Thus consumer

behaviour in proposed international market is affected by variety of factors such as brand value
of M&S, pricing strategies, physical presence of the organisation as well as their product and
service range.
Marketing strategy
From the above findings it can be suggested that M&S must developed marketing
strategy which can understand and meet the consumer preference in the market. In Indian market
M&S must adopt following strategies to meet its strategic and objective requirements.
Objectives: The key objective of M&S is to become key and leading retailers in Indian market
and increase its profitability by nearly 40% in the next three years.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning: Initially organisation must target in urban areas of
India, particularly in the major cities of the country. It will help organisation to understand the
nature of customer preferences and choices in Indian market. Similar to its domestic market, in
India also M&S must position itself as premium brand in retail industry. It will help company to
build trust among targeted customers so that they will be willing to pay prices for the brand
(Kasemsap, 2016). To establish its physical stores and to develop products M&S must also use
various segmentation strategies such as psychographic, behavioural, geographical and
demographic factors. The organisational products range in India will be typically for both males
and females in the age group 5-45 years old. The organisation will also segment its products on
the behavioural factors. The consumers who prefer only international brand are given preference
in the services of organisation.
Marketing mix: In order to achieve objectives in the proposed international market M&S can
adopt following strategies.
Product: The customer’s preference and range in India is very huge and diverse. Thus to
penetrate in the market M&S will require to develop vast range of innovative products which are
capable of meeting diverse needs. The company must also emphasis on packaging and product
design which meet the Indian social and cultural norms as well.
Price: As compare to UK market, average income of customers in India is very low. Further
majority of customers consider retailers as way to cost saving by means of plenty of discounts.

Thus in Indian markets M&S must keep its prices considerably low to its UK pricing. However
company must also launch a separate product range for the customers who demand for an
international brand with expensive and unique pricing and brand attributes.
Promotion: The best promotional strategies for the organisation include discount coupons,
loyalty coupons as well as social media promotion (Teller, Wood and Floh, 2016). In the
promotional strategies organisation must also ensure that cultural considerations such as
language, ideologies and beliefs are given preferences so that positive response from the
customers can be obtained and sales can be increased.
Place: In India M&S cannot go fully online for achieving its objectives. For successive
accomplishment of goals it is mandatory that organisation also emphasis on its physical
presence. Along with the timely delivery of online products organisation must also focus on
launching new stores in most of the cities in India. It will help in enhancing the brand awareness
and value of the organisation in the market.
Entry methods to market: Being a foreign brand it can be difficult for the M&S to enter directly
into Indian market through export. Thus approaches such as partnership or franchising can be
considered as the best choice for the entry method of organisation. With partnership the
investment cost for the organisation will be low and local partners will also help to have better
understanding regarding customer preferences. India has plenty of organisational which
encourage the partnership with the successful global brands such as M&S. Thus it will be very
easy for the company to seek for partners or franchisers who can help M&S to establish itself in
Indian market and to achieve its objectives (Botschen and Wegerer, 2017).
Risk factors: For achieving objectives M&S must also evaluate potential risk in the Indian
market which includes competitors and fluctuating economy. Thus company must keep its prices
and supply chain effective so that these risks can be overcome.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be concluded that apart from the local market
organisations can get vast range of opportunities in overseas markets. However for successful
utilisation of these global opportunities it is required that companies must adopt marketing

strategies in accordance to demands and preference of customers. It has been also analysed that
customer behaviour can vary greatly from nation to other and thus the adaptation of standard
strategies may not deliver desired results. Hence it is very essential that for competitive
advantage and success it is necessary that global changes must be accepted but needs and
preferences of proposed international market must not be neglected while implementing
marketing strategies.

REFERNCES
Books and Journals
Blut, M., Teller, C. and Floh, A., 2018. Testing retail marketing-mix effects on patronage: A
meta-analysis. Journal of Retailing. 94(2). pp.113-135.
Botschen, G. and Wegerer, P.K., 2017. Brand-driven retail format innovation: a conceptual
framework. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
De Mooij, M., 2018. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes.
SAGE Publications Limited.
Dimitrova, B.V., Rosenbloom, B. and Andras, T.L., 2016. The impact of national cultural values
on retail structure. International Marketing Review.
Jayasuriya, N.A., Azam, S.F. and Ferdous, M., 2017. The impact of social media marketing on
brand equity: A study of fashion-wear retail in Sri Lanka. International Review of
Management and Marketing. 7(5). pp.178-183.
Kasemsap, K., 2016. Retail marketing strategies and brand management: A global retail industry
perspective. International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT
(IJSODIT). 5(2). pp.66-78.
Keegan, W.J., 2017. Global marketing management. Pearson India.
Kotler, P. and et.al., 2018. Marketing management: an Asian perspective. Pearson.
Ramanathan, U., Subramanian, N. and Parrott, G., 2017. Role of social media in retail network
operations and marketing to enhance customer satisfaction. International Journal of
Operations & Production Management.
Teller, C., Wood, S. and Floh, A., 2016. Adaptive resilience and the competition between retail
and service agglomeration formats: an international perspective. Journal of Marketing
Management. 32(17-18). pp.1537-1561.
Online
A Short History of Marks & Spencer. 2020. [Online]. Accessed through. <
https://marksintime.marksandspencer.com/download?id=996 >.