History:

Marks and Spencer has been a major UK retailer for over 125 years, with its innovative policy of buying stock directly from the manufacturer allowed them to substantially decrease selling price and therefore become a household name throughout the UK.

A significant development for the innovative brand was the introduction of textiles in 1928; although they only started with small clothing range it progressed over the years to become one of the best known names of the high street. The rapid growth in popularity for the company meant that they had to leave their original Manchester based warehouse and head office behind and set up head office in London, it was not long after that their flagship store was opened in Marble Arch in 1930.

 In the 1953 Marks and Spencer was the first high street retailer to offer a petite women's range, this was after intense research which showed that the average height for women was 5'5, therefore Marks and Spencer thought it was necessary to cater to the needs of the customer; this was then followed by the introduction of tights in 1962. The company began to grower bigger and bigger throughout the 1970's and 1980's expanding both in the ranges and the opening in new store. In the 1990's Marks and Spencer responded to the high demand for e-commerce by allowing their customer to shop online, this was both a advantage to their customers but also was a chance to boost sales.

Whilst also providing customers with other services the companies clothing become more popular with the introduction of the limited collection, Per Una and Blue Harbour. Marks and Spencer plans to develop even further with the introduction of its Plan A policy and to fulfil their 100 point eco plan and to keep thier promise of quality, value, service, innovation and trust.

Brand Values:

Marks and Spencer is built around five core values quality, value, service, innovation and trust. Their mission is to be able to provide make "aspirational" products available to everybody with their indepth and highly innovative range of products. They also aim to provide a standard which their competitors should aim to measure towards, whilst also providing a key interest in the environment, community and the working environment for their employees.

Market Size:

Marks and Spencer is still one of the nation’s favourite, over the 12 months the womenswear market has grown to 10.7% in value which is an increase of 0.2%. Marks and Spencer believe this is due to the introduction of the Indigo collection and the response to their customer’s needs of items which are more versatile. This contributed to Marks and Spencer’s £413.3 million sales,

The company continues to try and offer their products at reasonable price points, therefore by reviewing the pricing mix within the women swear department it has allowed them to continue with their lower lead prices but also allowed an increase in 'better and 'best' pricing, this is prominent in categories such as knitwear due to the customers willingness to spend more for investment pieces.

What Marks and Spencer sells currently

Marks and Spencer offers a wide range of products throughout their sub brands including Per Una, Autograph and the Limited collection, it aims to meet the requirements of the older customer but also providing them with younger more fashionable trends. This is especially prominent in their Per Una ranges as they offer high fashion and sophisticated style within a reasonable price bracket. Within the Per Una sub brand they offer coats, jackets, dresses, jeans, knitwear, lingerie, nightwear, shirts, blouses, shoes, skirts, tops, t-shirts, trousers, shorts and a range of accessories. This allows the customers to fully put together an outfit within the category, this an advantage to the company and the customers as it adds on sales for the company but also helps the customer shop with ease as they only have to look in one section within the hole of the high street for their full outfit. Marks and Spencer also offer a section on their website which shows a fully put together outfit idea, this could potentially mean a customer could view the outfit idea and buy the full outfit from the company. 

 The prices range from their lead price of £15 for a plain jersey top to £250 for a 100% wool coat, therefore offering products which cater to a larger scale of disposable incomes and keeping competitive amongst a wider spectrum of high street retailers. Per Una also tries to provide for the different, individual tastes of their customers by offering a range of style lines and colours for example within the tops and t-shirt category there are products available in 14 colours and also offer both plain and printed style. As well as having the categories within the sub brand they also narrow the category by splitting it into style such as tunics, plain tops, mock layers and causal.

M&S Competitors

As Marks and Spencer appeals to a broad range of customers, this means that their competitors are very broad. The company sets the prices for most companies in the high street, it is apparent in both direct and indirect competitors pricing, product, location and promotions. The main competitors for Marks and Spencer are Next, Matalan, Debenhams, and House of Fraser and in direct competitors such as Zara, Warehouse, Coast and Oasis.  

Perceptual Map of Direct and In Direct competitors

 Competitors in comparison to Marks and Spencer.

Next-

When considering the six staple products, the amount of styles and colours in both Marks and Spencer and Next are very similar, this therefore reflects onto the price and quality of fabric which are also on par with each other. An example of this is when reviewing the plain trousers in the stores, Marks and Spencer average price for the product is around £29 and Next average price are around £30. Although Marks and Spencer has a very slight price advantage it is not enough to establish a substantial difference as to why the customer should choose on retailers over the other. It is apparent that both stores are aiming for the same age group as their customer target market and also with the broad range of sizes both of the companies offer. This therefore also reflects onto location of the retailers as it means they both must have a noticeable position on any high street. Both the retailers have the availability for their customer to shop online; this will mean they can both add on potential sales even when their stores are closed.  

Matalan-

Although Matalan is cheaper than Marks &Spencer with a little black dress pricing around £18 compared to Marks and Spencer where it can be from £60 and above they should not be underestimated as a key competitor. The price is one advantage Matalan has over Marks and Spencer; however they cannot compare of the quality of the products as Matalan product decrease in both fabric quality (mainly using synthetics) and product styling ( with less components and detailing). As with the previous competitor Matalan offers a broad range of sizes and has a transactional website. The main advantage Marks and Spencer has over Matalan’s in the fact that most of the Matalan stores are mainly based on large retail parks away from the main high street and therefore they do not receive the benefit of having busy crowds pass their store as regularly as Marks and Spencer doses.

Debenhams-

Even though Debenhams is a department store is many of Marks and Spencer’s customers will also shop in department store such as Debenhams as they sell similar products at reasonable prices, this is excluding Debenhams major designer ranges which pushes the prices of their products slightly and is also used as a promotional advantage.  The quality of the products varies between each section of the department store, this is only due to the fact the products will come from different suppliers. Marks and Spencer have had a solid connection with their suppliers and are therefore certain that their products and fabric quality are to the highest standard.   As with most high street retailers Debenhams has the ability to shop online as well as having a large store on many high streets across the UK

House of Fraser

House of Fraser is another one of Marks and Spencer's department store competitors, they have a large choice of products including both designer and major brand influences. As with most of Mark and Spencer competitors they have similar prices apart from the higher prices of the desinger labels this also conveys onto the quality of the fabrics which is also of high quaility. As with the Marks and Spencer range the products come in a range of colours dependant on the brand. Like most of the current high street brands the website is transactional and has large stores on major high streets.

In direct competitors

Zara also basis their style on elegance, sophistication and well tailored products. However Zara is considered to be more fashionable this therefore reflects onto the price and quality of fabric which are also on par with each other. When considering the pricing compared to the styling of the products, Zara’s prices are in some ways a cheaper alternative and as they are more fashionable it could be a destination which Marks and Spencer customers may consider. The size range for Zara is not as broad as they use the XS- XL sizing measurement scale, Marks and Spencer offers a UK based sizing measurement which means the customer will already know their size. Zara also has the ability to shop online, this will mean they can both add on potential sales even when their stores are closed. 

Warehouse products similarly priced to Marks and Spencer there is a lot more embellishment and detail. The quality of the products are similar, this is due to the fact they are made from similar fabrics. This also means that the target customer identical to the Marks and Spencer customer, however it is more than likely that the customer will only shop at warehouse when buying one particular product or a product for a special occasion, Marks and Spencer and Per una is considered more of a casual brand and therefore is not in direct competition with warehouse. As with the majority of companies Warehouse customers have to ability to shop online.