British department store Marks & Spencer has announced plans to expand its omnichannel platform, including the introduction of six new clothing and footwear brands to be introduced on its website. The company has since added many popular brands such as Clarks, Boucleme beauty brand, and Sloggi lingerie.
The expansion of the platform involves bringing in new guest brands to further boost its reach, including Albaray, Celtic & Co, Craghoppers, FatFace, Frugi and Jones Bootmaker. These brands will be available within the next few weeks. Its omnichannel growth aims to maintain personalised customer relationships and reshape Marks & Spencer’s clothing and home business.
“With customers increasingly looking to shop on platforms, we have an exciting opportunity to leverage our infrastructure and digital-first Sparks loyalty scheme to grow Brands at M&S,” said Neil Harrison, director of the scheme, in a statement. We’re giving our customers with time constraints more options with a curated selection of stylish, value-for-money brands that are contemporary and sustainable. This improves our online offering and makes us more relevant.
The decision to expand is backed by a customer survey carried out by the company, stating 73 percent of Marks & Spencer customers said they have purchased clothing and footwear brands from a retailer acting as a platform. Marks & Spencer continues to build its Brands at M&S Team, which will be devoted to this area of business to ensure quick response to this trend.
While a portion of the platform is predominantly online, the company is continuing to expand its in-store trials of Brands at M&S. The concept will be carried out on a wider scale to include stores in Glasgow, London, Cheshire Oaks, Manchester and the Metro Centre in Gateshead.
