Marks & Spencer, Nardine Collier

1175 Words5 Pages
The main characteristic of Marks & Spencer was its products. The company had a simple pricing policy and its products were cheap and quality (recognizable by the brand “St. Michael”). Moreover it was very strong on basic clothes that outlasted trends. The managers of the company had a good understanding of customers’ preferences and needs. This products policy was strengthened by some fundamental principles on the company such has a central buying office that decided what products to sell in each stores. These stores were not independent and managers didn’t have a margin of choice and were forced to apply Marks & Spencer standards. Thanks to this, customers could identify well the brand. The success of the company was also due to a family atmosphere in each store and even in the whole company. Indeed there was a real stability with no major change in the company policy or strategy. This is also proved by the fact that the board was only made up with family members until the seventies. Nevertheless there was a real attention to details and the management was known to be rough. But this form of commitment was the key of the company success. Those reasons of the success of the company were a real competitive advantage. Indeed even if the characteristics described above don’t seem uncommon (even out-dated in 2013…) there were really new at that time. Moreover Marks & Spencer knew how to attract the best staff by paying and treating well its employees. That was a real advantage for the time. The company had also a policy of UK based suppliers only. That’s why they were able to promote the quality of its products. All the competitors were looking for lower costs but Marks & Spencer knew how to sell both cheap and quality clothes. Indeed the company was selecting its own suppliers that were making goods especially for the brand Marks & Spencer. The products were

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