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Buy Now Fashion Marks & Spencer

M&S unpins the importance of impulse buys with ‘See now, buy now’ Big Easy collection

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

May 11, 2016 | 3 min read

Mark & Spencer has reflected a shift in the fashion industry debuting its new ‘see now, buy now’ collection under the name Big Easy.

M&S

The new collection hints at a shift in the company’s retail strategy, as it will go straight into stores straight from the catwalk without any waiting period. The micro collection will allow shoppers to pick up the items straight after its recent showing on the catwalk.

The company, which is looking to battle the high street slump with it newly empowered attire push, in addition to ‘rewiring people’s brains’ for food porn ads, has had underperforming sales for 18 of the last 19 quarters.

Dominique Bonnafoux, senior strategist at retail consultancy Fitch, said: “‘See now, buy now’ isn’t a revolutionary idea but it sure is smart of M&S to jump on that bandwagon. It was Burberry, another cult British brand, that kicked off the trend creating two ‘climate-neutral’ lines with single shows for men and women. Most significantly, the collection will be available to purchase in-store and online immediately.

“Whilst M&S has embraced the buy-it-now trend, it¹s new collection is not gender neutral, another massive trend in the world of fashion, launched in style by no other than Selfridges with its Agender Concept Space back in 2015 and soon the high street followed suit - Zara introduced a new line of genderless clothing branded 'Zara Ungendered¹ just last month.

“Skipping this trend doesn¹t mean the Big Easy collection won't appeal and resonate with consumers. In fact, it might just mark a long awaited positive step change for the retailer, not just because of ‘see now, buy now¹ but importantly because it is also 'seasonless'. Meaning it's in line with this new generation of socially conscious smart consumers (Gen Z and Millennial) who value of ethics over consumption. As I said, there isn¹t much these generations can't affect.”

You can view the Autumn/Winter 2016 collection here.

Buy Now Fashion Marks & Spencer

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