M&S still mainly appeals to older shoppers but is increasing its relevance among the young, Declining UK market share pre pandemic is finally starting to recover, with impressive performance in 2022, M&S is wisely choosing to revamp store estate by closing underperforming locations and transforming remaining sites into its new concept

Recycling is also becoming mainstream, with Primark set to launch a clothing take-back scheme in 2019, joining similar efforts by M&S and H&M that have been in operation for several years. Barry at M&S, which collects about 3 million items annually via its “shwopping” scheme, says it is only part of the answer. “The challenge is not getting clothing back: it’s what to do with it,” he says.

When? By 4pm Wednesday 28th February 2024 Where?

What you need to do: This is the starting point for research in your portfolio. Part of your role in the insights team is to identify and validate the methods of forecasting in trend reports.

1) Research your brand M&S clothing.

2) Select one theme/trend from Unique Style Platform’s Forecast (See Week 2 teaching material in the unit area on myUCA) that relates to your brand, and their customer for 2025.

3) Prepare a visual-rich presentation, max 5 slides long, to present your brand and trend research and analysis.

4) Include a list of illustrations and a list of credible references - Make sure you use UCA Harvard Referencing: https://mylibrary.uca.ac.uk/referencing

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68342326

Albeit a Christmas ad, therefore a major focus on their food instead of their clothing, this could have still damaged their reputation and hindered sales in their clothes department