Beauty at M&S
M&S are attempting a massive strategy change, by stocking a range of
branded goods from the UK’s biggest consumer brands, to help stop falling sales. The retailer, has built up it’s upmarket food and beauty range entirely around it’s own label, but since food sales have dropped after supermarket rivals have closed the gap on quality products and the credit crunch has made shoppers more price conscious and therefore have been staying away from pricey M&S.
The range will include 53 healthcare and beauty brand products, including Elnett Hairspray, Calpol, Tampax, Veet Hair Remover, Strepsils and Senokot constipation treatment. A total of 350 new products will be on the shelves at M&S, which totals and extra 10% to the existing M&S range.
Steven Esom, the M&S food boss was fired last week after shocking and appalling sales figures were revealed to investors. Esom was previously the managing director of Waitrose, had worked on the strategy and selected the new product range, with the idea behind it to convert M&S food halls to full supermarkets where customers could do their entire weekly shop.
Clothing and homes sales were recently down 6.2% and food sales were down 4.5% despite inflation boosting grocery sales figures. The actual decline in food sales volume would be at 8.5% if food inflation was taken into account.
