M&S boss tight-lipped on marketing plans as clothing sales take (another) tumble
Marks & Spencer is not giving anything away when it comes the marketing plan desperately needed to wrestle it out of another fall in non-food sales as it presses ahead with a review of its advertising business.
M&S
The retailer’s weakest division suffered an 8.9 per cent fall in clothing sales over the first quarter (the 13 weeks to 2 July) as its ‘Mrs M&S’ strategy came into effect.
"Being candid these are not the numbers I want to see by any stretch, but they are what I expected to see,” said newly appointed M&S chief executive Steve Rowe today (7 July).
It blamed the tumble on the decision to delay the summer sale until the start of this week (many rivals went earlier as a result of the weather). This was compounded by the move to reduce the number promotional events it runs throughout the year, cutting them in the first quarter by around a third.
While the impacts of this have proven detrimental to the bottom line in the short-term, Rowe remained confident that in the long-haul it would help the business get back on track.
“Cyber days were the most damaging in terms of customer perception because you would have something prices differently online than in-store,” he said, adding that it has removed five out of six cyber days from its trading calendar in the hopes of rectifying this.
Improvements to perception of the brand are also being noted across things like pricing, the volume of stock on the shelves and the shift to make its entire new season collections available immediately (rather than phasing).
But it’s clear from the numbers that more drastic action is needed to communicate these changes to the so-called ‘Mrs M&S’. This quarter alone, top marketer Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne was promoted to executive director of customer, marketing and a review of the ad business took place shortly after.
But Rowe remained tight-lipped on the direction its customer-facing comms will take.
Speaking to The Drum on a press call, he said: “We are simplifying the business, I’ve reduced the management team from 21 to 10 people, and streamlining the marketing team. We’re looking at how marketing is working and we’ll update on that later in the year.”
The retailer has previously made it clear that communicating its value proposition will take priority in future marketing campaigns.
Overall, Rowe summed up the start of the year by saying: "We have made good progress with our strategy. The market has been a bit tougher than we anticipated but we have held our nerve."
Sales at its stronger food arm also fell, down 0.9 per cent in the same quarter, a slip which raised concern among analysts.
"Fashion is on the canvas and even food has delivered a negative like-for-like. When that happens alarm bells really do start to ring," said John Ibbotson, director of consultancy Retail Vision.
"Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for M&S, they did - and then some. Despite his best intentions, Rowe has not been able to stop the rot. Post-referendum caution among consumers, if it materialises, will only make things worse. Today's younger shoppers simply do not have the emotional bond with M&S that older people have. As hard as it is to say, the problems at M&S are starting to look terminal."