Marks & Spencer news

Performance figures reported by Marks & Spencer for the first half of 2013/14 (26 weeks to 28 September), show total group sales up 3.6% to £4.9bn.  While its international division continued to outperform on +8%, the core UK business nevertheless grew at 3.1%, underpinned by a like-for-like uplift of 0.7%. Still contrasting fortunes for UK food and GM Sales in M&S' traditional flagship GM ca...

Our Shopper insight manager, Michael Freedman, looks at how the convenience store of the future could be very different and help shoppers fulfil more missions. Untitled 1 Convenience in a multichannel world As IGD’s shopper insight expert on the convenience channel, I am often asked how convenience store shoppers differ to main supermarket shoppers. The answer is simple - they are ...

At yesterday's investor briefing M&S outlined seven ways in which it will grow its food business. Expanding its UK presence With only half of the population within a 10 minute drive, M&S has more potential than many of its rivals to expand sales through new store openings. By opening 150 new stores over the next three years - half of them featuring its full 7,000 SKU strong  offer - M&S wi...

Marks and Spencer has announced it is stepping up the expansion of its Simply Food business in the UK and abroad. Store openings to double At an event updating on the plans for its food business, the retailer announced it would open 150 new Simply Food stores in the next three years across the UK. Marks and Spencer, which currently has 427 food stores, will see its yearly new store open...

The British retailer plans new store openings with local partner Reliance Retail. Expansion across the market's key cities Marks and Spencer plans to between six and eight new stores in India in the next six months, adding to its existing network of 35 stores. M&S has been operating in the market for 12 years, first through franchise, and now in partnership with the retail branch of le...

IGD has launched a new store tour in conjunction with Sealed Air. The tour is open to all suppliers, and will be of particular interest to those looking to maximise their time in London by visiting the best of the capital's ground-breaking stores, before the next day's IGD Convention.  Visiting the top UK retailers The new programme will see suppliers taken on an interactive tour, stopping...

With the summer now in full swing, and schools broken up for the next six weeks, we take a look at the mix of promotional angles being used by retailers across the UK. 1. Summer savers Morrisons and Tesco are both offering summer promotions to support their broader value messaging. Morrisons "Hot Deals" cover a wide variety of seasonal and core products, while Tesco is offering a "Sum...

M&S has reported encouraging first quarter trading with group sales up by 3.3%, an improvement on the 3.1% achieved in Q4. Strong performances from food and M&S's international operations were assisted by an improving trend in general merchandise. Food: broadening customer appeal Total food sales advanced by 4.5% (1.8% LFL) in the 13 weeks to 29 June as shoppers responded to M&S's increasingl...

Latest figures from data agency Nielsen indicates that in the the four week period to 22 June the UK grocery retail market grew by 2.3%, as against 2.8% in the previous period, ending 25 May.  Market volume sales were up just 0.1%, running up against the celebratory spending for the Diamond Jubilee seen in 2012. Seasonal produce performing well Amongst the key product categories, fresh produc...

M&S has reported mixed fortunes for its principal businesses with an encouraging performance in food offset by declining sales in general merchandise for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2013. Headline numbers Group sales: +1.3% to £10.0bn Total UK sales +0.9% (LFL -1.0%) UK Food sales: +3.9% (LFL +1.7%) UK GM Sales: (-2.4% (LFL -4.1%) International sales: +4.5% Multichannel...