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Marks and Spencer SWOT Analysis Strengths Marks & Spencer…
Marks and Spencer
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Marks & Spencer plc is well-known for its 1,382 outlets throughout the world. The company’s international development through franchise agreements offers it a significant competitive edge over other UK enterprises that solely operate in the UK market (Rogers, 2012). M&S, which currently operates in 59 territories across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East through wholly owned retail businesses, retail joint ventures, retail franchise operations, or website-only territories (Marks & Spencer, 2016), is doing particularly well in priority markets like India, while its food business is expanding in places like Hong Kong and Europe (Marks & Spencer, 2015). M&S’s worldwide strategy’s geographical variety mitigates any possible dangers of being unduly exposed in a single area, while its two-fold foreign operation (food and apparel) provides even more stability (BBC, 2013). Marks & Spencer plc is an iconic brand that has been in business since 1884 and is still regarded as one of the top ten brands in the United Kingdom today (Vizard, 2015). Its choice to continue investing in innovations and brand-building advertising throughout the recession has effectively enhanced its brand positioning as a firm that provides high-quality, low-cost items (Marks & Spencer, 2016).
Weaknesses
Multiple initiatives, including the introduction of new sub-brands such as Autograph and Per Una, as well as the launch of a website in 2014, have been implemented in an attempt to strengthen the clothing arm of the business and thus reverse a decade of market share decline in what was once considered the company’s most profitable business (The Telegraph, 2014). However, these efforts have yet to provide a satisfying result (BBC, 2013). Despite a slight increase in April 2015, the company’s clothing sales have been declining for four years in a row, with the second quarter of 2016 being the company’s worst quarter since 2005. Analysts predict a more precipitous drop in the future years (Macalister, 2015). Because of the fall in sales, John Dixon, the business’s head of the clothes division, left the company in July 2015. (Macalister, 2015).
The corporation is losing important staff to rivals, including product developers, food technologists, and members of the General Merchandise design team. This will not only necessitate the firm investing in the recruitment, employment, and training of new personnel, but it will also expose the company to the danger of its know-how, know-how, and connections (connected to present or prospective contracts and business) becoming easily available to rivals (Davey, 2016).
Opportunities
M&S’s website now boasts six million online consumers, but it has yet to reach, engage, and convert 14.5 million people who exclusively interact with the firm in its High Street stores and buy online with competitors (The Telegraph, 2014). Sparks, a members club with four million registered members, is projected to promote online traffic with the introduction of a personalised shopping experience and personally designed loyalty programmes towards the end of 2015. M&S Bank, founded in 1985, recently (2014) introduced a current account with no monthly cost and a £100 M&S gift card. This effort has been well lauded, and with a great operational performance in 2015 (Marks & Spencer, 2016), it is regarded as a “challenge” to High Street banks (Jones, 2014). Additional advances in this area may create chances for the organisation (Brignall, 2016).
Threats
M&S was hit hard by the recession, with a significant drop in sales in 2009, a four-year loss in clothes sales, and, most recently, a ten-year low in apparel sales in the second quarter of 2016. (Davey, 2016). Macroeconomic issues and a sinking euro remain a concern, particularly in the Middle East (Marks & Spencer, 2016). M&S, formerly the largest clothes shop by volume, has now fallen to third place, trailing only Primark and Asda (Butler, 2015). Despite the fact that the firm still ranks first in terms of sales by value, its 14-quarter fall before a one-time increase in sales in the first quarter of 2015 suggests that the company will shift its focus from clothing to food (The Economist, 2015).
The question is
Plan a Strategic Approach using a TOWS.
