Marks and Spencer

Marks and Spencer

Introduction

Marks & Spencer is one of leading retailers of United Kingdom, with more than 21 million people visiting the stores each week. The product offerings of Marks & Spencer include high quality home products and clothing as well as exceptional quality foods reliably sourced from around 2,000 global suppliers. Marks & Spencer have employed around 78,000 people in United Kingdom and other countries with having more than 700 stores in United Kingdom with an expanding international business.

Marks & Spencer is the number one provider of lingerie and women's wear in the United Kingdom and is further growing its market share in kids wear and men's wear due to growth of online business. The 49% business of Marks & Spencer consists of sales from clothing and home ware. The remaining 51% of business constitutes of food, where it sells everything from fresh produced meals, groceries, partly prepared meals and ready to eat meals (Marks and Spencer plc2013, p. n.d).

Industry Background

Majority of findings revealed in the review of literature were obtained from past studies and researches that had been conducted on earlier periods. Additionally, majority of such studies concentrated on the general marketing perspectives of firms within the UK fashion industry, and in situations where the studies were specific, a selected marketing strategy was investigated. No single research study was dedicated to the study of marketing strategies adopted by a particular company such as the case with Marks and Spencer. The UK fashion industry is growing at an increasing rate and it is characterized by intense competition among firms. Hence, there is the need for each firm to develop creative and innovative ideas and implement the identified ideas into their marketing strategies in order to increase its chances of survival within the industry.

In light of such revelations, this research study aims to undertake a research study to explore the types of marketing strategies adopted by a typical firm in the UK fashion industry. Marks and Spencer is the selected company and hence, the research study will limit itself to the examination and exploration of marketing strategies adopted by Marks and Spencer to enable it increase its market share and enjoy a substantial share of the market. Findings from this research study will be of significance importance to Marks and Spencer, and other firms within the UK fashion industry. It will also provide insights to the market analysts in predicting the future directions and marketing strategies.

External Analysis

The external analysis consists of study of the external market environment in which the business operates. The external analysis focused on analyzing different factors like, customers, demographics, competition and other relevant data. The external analysis examines the threats and opportunities that are present in the market for Marks and Spencer. This analysis will help the management of Marks and Spencer to decide the future path of the organization. The external analysis of Marks and Spencer includes the Pestle Analysis and Porters Five Forces Model Analysis.

Pestle Analysis

The Pestle analysis is a ...