Marks and spencer PDF

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Summary

This is the Marks and Spencer case summary + analysis i did which got 10/15 for marking
2 marks lost due to going over the word limit.

hope it helps ...

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Marks and Spence Case Summary The business is marks and spencer which is a UK based retailer which sells clothing, home products and luxury food products. Their headquarters is based in Westminster but is now a multination corporation. Who is the customer (target market defined): their target market are customer who are passionate about their product, aspirational quality, inspirational easy to shop stores, accessible prices, simple and rewarding financial solutions, a home store to dream of, best of miles at speciality foods and an unrivalled choice of irresistible clothing. Their wants are quality, easy to navigate shops, being price friendly, homewares, clothing and food Their competitors are Sainsbury and Tesco in food. Their competition whilst at the beginning was no really a threat as they moved off shore to be able to use cheaper prices offshore they were then able to product products of the same value and same prices as marks and spencers. The problem that marks and spencer is facing is that their overall profit is down from previous years. This is because of the issues in management. Also their problems within their different sectors being food, Home and financial. For food their biggest problem is not the quality but how to food is processed and prepared. For home how it is not being utilised enough for it profits growth and margins. Financial focusing on their assets being the M&S brand, the distribution and the consumers that are using their card, Noting that out of the 5 million people who have a M&S card only 3 million are using them. They also had many management issues where the old management was not listening to the trends and the customers in what they wanted out of marks and spencer. Their key business model was to focus on good quality at a low price, being unique and combining some product categories that aren’t usually combined. These 3 main aspects are marks and spencers core values to be different from their competitors and to achieve a competitive advantage. Their success in Paris stems from their unique business model but also that they were better travelled meaning they were more exposed to the brand before it came to them as people were more familiar. Consumers also knew and thought of St Michael as a popular saint and therefore associated that saint like attributes to the brand. They failed in Canada due to not adapting to their environment due to the union jack that was represented with the brand had a negative cultural impact especially in Quebec. The failure that occurred in the US was mainly because of their endeavour through the brook brothers which they over paid for and their formula that didn’t apply for the US consumer. Their failure in Australia was due to not making an effort to understand the people who are on the other side of the world as they have different needs and wants and Marks and Spencer have not appealed to that. Their CUBES plan was successful in communicating key objectives to everyone as well as creating a sense of direction. It Reiterated new values whilst upholding old values. They went back to core competencies whilst refocusing and striped away the unnecessary aspects of the company. The cube 2 focuses on work-life balance and CSR. However cube 2 was no strategy focused as they were objectives but definitely not strategies.

To continue on their lines of success they should stick to quality and low cost as that is what they were founded on as well as speed market. As well as doing the basics really well staying away from fast and fleeting trends. More consumer insight getting to know their target markets; Developing on their in-store experience and their supply chain management in doing that they should take out the middle man and go into joint venture with manufacturer and create new brands from that. They should also continue to focus on their credit card as well as their seasonal 10% off....