Marks & Spencer Swot Analysis

SWOT Analysis

It is well known that for a long period of time Marks & Spencer was considered to be the

market leader and UK’s best established store in the retail sector. They were known as the top clothing retailers and they pioneered the development of chilled convenience foods in the 1980’s . They had a simple philosophy, which was to produce high quality products under a well known, recognised brand name at considerably affordable prices. However, for the last few years, Marks & Spencer’s marketing philosophy has come under attack as other companies invaded and commenced to eat into the market share , and hence the company lost its competitive stance , which led to a decline in profits. Competition from the smaller stores became more intense, stores such as Next and the Arcadia Group (Retailers such as Topshop, Burtons) were climbing the ladder and gained high market share (see Appendix E) simply because they targeted specific markets and target audiences. In order to identify how Marks & Spencer can increase its performance and once again regain a high market share it would be necessary to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths

Probably the biggest strength that Marks & Spencer possesses is its built reputation. The company has been in business for over one hundred years and therefore have built a great reputation for excellent service, quality and value for money . The brand name/image known as St.Michael is another asset to the company as high quality products have been delivered under this name targeted at all audiences . Another key strength is the fact that they