General
Despite a growth in food sales, Marks & Spencer saw its profits drop 21.2 % last year. The coronavirus crisis makes tough measures necessary, but also opens opportunities.
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Fashion
Closed stores and stock that cannot be sold: the havoc that corona will wreak in the fashion retail is becoming increasingly apparent. New studies now predict which chains will be the first to fall...
British retailer Marks & Spencer is reported to have told its landlords it would close more stores than the 110 already doomed by its transformation plan. In fact, all underperforming stores are said to be threatened.
Marks & Spencer has had a disappointing quarter as growth in food sales was overturned by a bigger decrease in non-food sales. Especially menswear and gifts stayed under the expected turnover.
2019 was an atrocious year for the British retail sector, which lost more than 140,000 jobs over the last year - that is almost 400 jobs per day. Worse is still to come: for 2020, experts fear an even bigger onslaught.
British department store chain Marks & Spencer feels the need to reduce twenty of its major stores in size and seeks ways to turn higher floors into offices or apartments.
Food
Marks & Spencer has rolled out vertical farm units in seven stores in London. The British department store chain grows fresh herbs in connected mini-greenhouses.
The first half of the year has "not been good" for Marks & Spencer, the British department store group admits. With 17 % less profit and a 2 % drop in turnover, that may well be quite an understatement.
At Marks & Spencer, online customers can now pay in arrears: they have the opportunity to pay interest-free in four instalments. The trend of paying for items in instalments is also gaining momentum elsewhere.
Since yesterday, a London branch of Marks & Spencer has been selling a variety of fresh herbs, all of which are grown on site in vertical agricultural units. The plan is for six other stores to follow suit this year.
Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is luring in more up-market customers to its expanded ‘Food of the World’ section, featuring exclusive Marks & Spencer products. Other retailers' private labels are also featured in major Delhaize stores, like those of Spanish El Corte Inglés and Coop Italia.
Disappointing sales figures and the high costs of store closures have impacted the results of Marks & Spencer. To finance the recent deal with online player Ocado, the British retailer will now issue new shares.
The deal between Marks & Spencer and online grocery service Ocado will go beyond delivering food at home: apparel and accessories may soon be delivered along with the weekly groceries as well.
Marks & Spencer and online retailer Ocado are launching a joint venture: M&S will now have a food delivery service as it buys Ocado's Waitrose customers for 750 million pounds (about a billion euros).
The popularity of vegan or plant-based products is growing fast in retail: research from the UK indicates that the number vegan products in webshops increased by more than 75 % last year, while over half of all newly launched cosmetics products are purposefully plant-based and animal-friendly.
Sales are slipping at a steady pace at Marks&Spencer. According to chief executive Steve Rowe, it is a situation the British chain simply has to sit out: he does not rule out the possibility of closing more stores.
