Marks & Spencer Marketing Mix (4Ps) & Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy of Marks & Spencer through marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
Marks & Spencer Product Strategy:
Marks & Spencer is a popular and top retail chain brand in the world based out of UK. The product portfolio for Marks & Spencer in its marketing mix is wide covering items for all age group be it men, women and kids. Marks & Spencer offers products for women that include clothing like Blazers, Cardigans, Cashmere, Jeans, Linen, shirt, skirt and many more. Footwear section for women includes boots, sandals, loafers, pumps, heels etc. Bags and accessories for women include handbags, beach bags, jewellery, sunglasses etc. The famous brands for women are Autograph, Classic, Indigo, Per Una, Twiggy and Foot Glove. Marks & Spencer offers products for women that include clothing like Blazers, Jackets, shirts, Jumper, Suits and many more. Footwear section for women includes boots, sandals, casual shoes etc. Underwear and Pyjama section include Pyjama, socks, Gown etc. M&S also offers Home and Furniture section that includes home accessories, furniture for Bedroom, living room, dining room, lighting etc. M&S also offer Food and Wine section which sells all lunches and dinner, main courses, wine, starters etc. Marks & Spencer also sells Flowers and other gift items. M&S mainly sells its in house brand rather than other international brands. In 2021, the company also the made donations towards the needy who had been impacted by Covid.
Image: Wikimedia
This concludes the product strategy in Marks & Spencer marketing mix & strategy.
Marks & Spencer Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Marks & Spencer marketing mix strategy:
Marks & Spencer follows competitive pricing strategy in its marketing mix for its product portfolio. Marks & Spencer has its own in house brands for clothing for women, men and kids.
Generally these in house brands are priced between medium to higher category because of its premium quality. But M&S still follows a competitive pricing strategy as the customers now have more options to choose from because of the increased competition. Marks & Spencer also faces competition from online retailers and other big retail players. The company also follows a dynamic pricing strategy as during seasonal time it offers more discount on products to get more customers and generally the old stock is put for sale at a lesser price as compared to newly arrived stock.
Read more about Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Marks & Spencer marketing mix:
Marks & Spencer is an international brand which has got more than 1000 stores operating in more than 50 countries. Marks & Spencer’s major business is in UK where the company has around 850 stores. It has got 50+ stores in India where it began its operation in year 2001. Some of the other countries where it has got its presence are Turkey, Spain, France, Ireland, Hungary, Finland etc. Marks & Spencer has got its own website from where the customers can buy products and get home delivery. M&S also provides an option for international delivery for limited products.
All the products can be bought in local currency while purchasing online.
Marks & Spencer Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Marks & Spencer marketing mix is as follows:
Marks & Spencer chooses its marketing strategy very carefully so as to align its advertisement campaign with digital marketing and in store strategy. M&S emphasizes to provide a common message on all medium of communications. Marks & Spencer uses print media, TV ads, mobile ads and other social media campaign. The company uses its own website to promote its brand, clothes for women, men and kids. Customers can find blogs and fashion tips on its website. Marks & Spencer also promotes its season sale to its loyal customers by giving them special discounts. M&S also runs a special loyalty program ‘Sparks’ which adds points to the customer’s account on the basis of amount spent on shopping. This reward points can then be spent on future purchases from Marks & Spencer stores. The brand has used digital marketing, social media promotions & online ads as a part of its promotion & marketing strategy.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Marks & Spencer.
People:
Marks & Spencer has got more than 1000 stores in over 50 countries. Marks & Spencer employee strength is around 70,000 people. The company pays special attention to the employees. The company follows a competitive payment policy to retain its employees. Other than just the basic pay the company rewards its employees based on performance to give boost to individual performances. Also the employees enjoy a special discount on M&S products purchased either in store or online. The company also provides pension benefits, life insurance scheme, share buy, health insurance schemes to its employees. Marks & Spencer also runs a learning and development program for its new trainees and specialized programs for higher roles. The company also provides option for flexible working hours to support working parents or employees who wants to build career elsewhere. M&S also emphasizes on diversity in each outlet to promote women employees by bringing more female friendly policies. Due to the pandemic, the company faced losses & job cuts for the first time ever.
Process:
Marks & Spencer stores can be found at malls, sub urban areas. These stores are beautiful and properly organized as compared to other stores like pantaloons, wills lifestyle etc. The Marks & Spencer stores are divided into floors which mean they have separate section for clothing, gifts and flowers, furniture and other home accessories. Within each section there are separate sub sections for women, men and kids. Generally the ground floor is for home and personal accessories. The first floor is for clothing for women, men and kids. Second floor is for furniture and other gift shop. Third floor is for food and other items. Customers can select the stuff and there is a checkout counter on each store where they can pay the bills. Also the customers can make online purchase by logging into M&S website just like other e commerce website. The customer can also claim reward pints if they have Marks & Spencer special Sparks card as a part of their loyalty program.
Physical Evidence:
Marks & Spencer has more than 1000 stores in over 50 countries in the world. Marks & Spencer’s major business is in UK where the company has around 850 stores. Some of the other countries where it has got its presence are Turkey, Spain, France, Ireland, Hungary, Finland etc. All these stores act as the physical evidence for the company. Marks & Spencer also sells wide range of products from clothes to home accessories, gifts and flowers, furniture. These things also act as the physical evidence. The company has got its own website from where the customers can buy products and get home delivery. Hence, this covers the Marks & Spencer marketing mix.
About Marks & Spencer:
Marks & Spencer Plc was founded in the year 1884 in Britain which turned out to be a leading international retail store all over the world. The founder of the Marks & Spencer store is Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer.
The headquarters of the company is at London, UK Marks & Spencer stores sells their own brand of clothes, food products and other home products. M&S has more than 1000 stores in over 50 countries in the world.
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