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The multinational business opened originally as a Bazaar back in 1884 in Leeds. Despite being a British Legendary, the business operates worldwide. The business operates physically as well as online, and offers a diverse range of goods and services, from food and cloth to insurance

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as it was performing very well in the first decade around the western market. However the concern for the business has been growing due to increased competition and changes in trends. The fashion industry has had many incomers as a results of the low entering barriers through the use of internet and social media. This has created many competitors for M&S such as pretty little things, miss guided etc. The food section also faces a lot of competition with alternatives such as Tesco finest and brands like Aldi and Lidl who offers competitive prices in comparison to M&S.

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M&S's retreat from the High Street is fast becoming a rout. Having initially announced plans to close 30 Clothing & Home stores, the number of outlets facing the axe has increased to 100. They're scheduled to be gone by 2022.

The locations of the next 14 have just been announced, following hot on the heels of an initial 21.

The uncomfortable choice facing the staff who work there is whether to try for a new role in the group, or take a pay off and see what else is out there. Deciding which way to jump will not be easy.

Thousands of people will be affected by the cull, which once again serves to highlight the continuing inability of the chain's richly rewarded executives to come up with an answer to the question of what M&S is for on the modern high street.

Why would you go there for clothes when you can get perfectly acceptable quality a lot cheaper at Primark? Or the supermarkets?

"I really don't know," is what M&S's middle class customer base has been saying. "I might go and have a look at what's there because what I see here is about as exciting as doing the ironing when the broadband connection is down and I can't watch Netflix. And it isn't cheap either."

While this has been going on, successive CEOs have made fortunes, because that's what CEOs do. They've produced glossy ads. They've made a big fuss. They've got themselves in papers, sometimes surrounded by models. And the sales have just kept on falling, with words like "challenging" and "tough" regularly appearing in trading statements.

M&S's workforce has good reason to feel cross about this. They might very well also look at the £1.64m the incumbent Steve Rowe received last year and ask: why?

They've worked hard for the company. They've smiled and put their best put forward and tried to sell the M&S ideal. They just haven't had the products on the shelves behind them at a price their customers have been willing to pay. And they haven't had the bosses with the imagination to chart a new course.

It's now they who are paying the price for the failure of those bosses. And it's a high one.

Even food, so often the bright spot, the thing that was played up in the trading statements because it was doing well, the horse Mr Rowe backed for the future, has been treading water. Again the question "why am I paying a premium" is being asked. No wonder, with so many households' budgets under pressure.

If your job is in PR I suppose you could portray the latest announcement as evidence of decisive action, what is needed to cope with the accelerating move of shoppers online. "Vital," is the word used in the press release. But vital is something M&S hasn't been for a long time.

The City didn't buy it. There was a brief flurry of interest in the shares before they went into reverse as investors started to fret about what might be in the forthcoming trading statement. How bad's it going to be?

Bad, I'd imagine, which leads to one more uncomfortable question: will this ultimately be seen as the beginning of the end?

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Marks & Spencer: With 100 stores slated to go staff are paying price for the failure of successive CEOs

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M&S's retreat from the High Street is fast becoming a rout. Having initially announced plans to close 30 Clothing & Home stores, the number of outlets facing the axe has increased to 100. They're scheduled to be gone by 2022. The locations of the next 14 have just been announced, following hot on the heels of an initial 21.

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M&S offers goods for a wide target market which ranges from clothes to shoes and food for men, women and kids. The pricing strategy which they have adopted is high price and premium quality. As an international brand, it operates in more than 50 countires where its presence is known. In terms of promotion, the business chooses its strategy very carefully so as to align its advertisement campaign with digital marketing and in store strategy. Also. the company uses its own website to promote its brand.

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Segmenting- The business segments by behaviour, psychological and profile.
Behaviour- the consumers are those willing to purchase premium goods with higher prices.
Psychological- M&S offers heathy alternatives for those with a healthy lifestyle or those with better attitudes towards health and the environment, they will seek the benefits such as healthy or organic when purchasing the food.
Profile- the consumer will often be those living in a high-income British households.

Targeting- the business targets middle-class families, they will also target areas of Britain where there is smaller ethnic minorities.

positioning- the business positions itself as a premium brand, which offers better quality than elsewhere. The use for the product is clearly identified in the food magazine as well as website.

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Segmentation involves finding out what kinds of consumers with different needs exist. In the auto market, for example, some consumers demand speed and performance, while others are much more concerned about roominess and safety.

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The date on your computer is in the past. If your computer's clock shows a date before 1 Jan 1970, the browser will automatically forget the cookie. To fix this, set the correct time and date on your computer.

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In 2009 M&S launched its simply food range with more than 5000 food items with new, lower prices. The range was aimed at lower income families who were hit by the recession. This strategy was first adopted. by Waitrose's essential range as well as Tesco's value range. similarly, the business also followed the meal deal technique which is appealing to students as well as workers that was first followed by Tesco.

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John Dixon, executive director of food at M&S said: 

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John Dixon, executive director of food at M&S said: 

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"M&S customers come to us for great quality food they can trust – whether shopping for special occasions or for everyday eating. We will continue to focus on delivering this through innovation and newness and also offering great value."

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The biggest rival of M&S in the fashion sector is Primark. This is greatly due to the competitive prices offered from Primark as well as the popularity of Primark throughout the years from social media. The strategy Primark has adopted is similar to Aldi and Lidl which is low price but good quality. This has enabled high revenue margins and placed Primark as M&S's biggest rivals.

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M&S Competitors, Revenue and Employees - Owler Company Profile

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M&S's top competitors are Primark, Marks And Spencer India and Crew Clothing. See M&S's revenue, employees, and funding info on Owler, the world's largest community-based business insights platform.

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political- The biggest political threat which could impose as a disadvantage to Marks and Spencer is Brexit. This would mean that Marks and Spencer may have to close its operations in Europe and other part of the world, however this could also mean that Marks & Spencer could put more focus into the domestic market. This is highly relevant if Aldi and Lild were to close down. further, sugar tax could also impose as a threat for Marks and Spencer

Economic- Although there is a rise in income in Uk and countries like China, Brexit and the events around the world has led to uncertainties and many job losses.

Social- There has been major changed in consumers taste and lifestyle. This includes the concern for health, i.e eating organic and healthy.

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Technological- online purchasing has become powerful and could impact the shops, the opportunities of technology is similar to Amazon to buy using mobile phones.

Legal- there has in recent years been more emphasis on packaging, recycling and meeting standards in the process of manufacturing.

Environmental- Marks and Spencer has developed a programme called plan A in regards to waste management

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one of the recommendations for Marks & Spencer would be to focus on the area that is performing well. over the years, M&S food has simply done well and that is mainly due to the quality offered and the phenomenal promotions everyday and during special occasions such as Christmas. The strategy would be to focus on the food section and close down clothing operations. Although M&S could invest heavily in research to understand consumer trends, it would a massive opportunity cost when its can instead be invested to extend food range and innovate to bring prices down for consumers.

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Why did Marks and Spencer lose its edge, and how can it get it back?

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Clothing sales at M&S have fallen for the seventh quarter in a row. What's gone wrong? And how can it be put it right? We asked experts and fans to come up with an instant rescue plan