Marks and Spencer 2012 Annual Report Download - page 22

Strategic review
Focus on the UK
Marks and Spencer Group plc Annual report and financial statements 2012 20
everyday items, we have worked hard
to attract them to more fashion-led
pieces, with sales of our girls’
Autograph range growing 14%.
Home
In a difficult market customers remained
cautious about spending on big ticket
furniture items, opting to update rooms
with elements from our core ranges and
smaller accessories. This environment,
coupled with our exit from technology
meant sales were down 10%.
We made good progress against
our plan to segment Home into
distinct lifestyle options – Classic,
Contemporary and Design (below).
The Classic range, designed in house,
continued to represent the best of
M&S Home and our hero departments
of kitchen and dining, bedding and bath
all delivered good growth. We catered
for customers looking for affordable
items to update their home by delivering
great value, more choice and stronger
fashion influences. We also worked
hard to improve availability on these
favourite lines.
formal jacket amongst the best sellers.
Footwear and accessories performed
particularly strongly under our
sophisticated Autograph brand, as male
shoppers became more confident in
putting together a styled look.
Kidswear
With budgets stretched, parents trust
M&S quality and value. We delivered
our biggest ever year for Kidswear, with
particularly strong performances in our
baby and toddler and schoolwear
ranges.
We continued to introduce new
customers to the brand through our baby
and newborn ranges, offering great
innovations in supersoft yet hardwearing
fabrics and affordable gifting options.
Having worked hard to develop our baby
offer over the last two years, these
customers remained loyal and helped
deliver good growth as they transitioned
to our toddler ranges, sales of which were
up 10%.
Our increasingly strong position in
footfall-driving staples, such as
sleepwear and essentials, provided a
great opportunity for us to grow kids’
fashion too. As parents shop for these
Menswear
Menswear delivered another good year,
growing market share and improving its
style credentials. The newly defined
sub-brands helped reduce duplication
across our ranges and enabled
customers to more easily locate the
right style for them.
This year we broadened our customer
profile in Menswear, attracting a
younger shopper whilst continuing to
meet the needs of our core customer.
Our casual North Coast collection
helped us broaden appeal and
delivered sales up 12%.
The launch of M&S Man boosted the
profile of the affordable, iconic items in
our core range, such as classic black
chinos. Our reputation for unbeatable
quality helped drive sales growth in
heartland areas such as everyday
essentials, up 11%.
Our Blue Harbour brand delivered
modern updates on heritage-style
knitwear and traditional tweeds, with
sales up 183% and 81% respectively.
Customers also responded well to the
coordinated, continental style of
Collezione, with our Linen Miracle™
Contemporary
Collaboration
This year we launched our Conran Exclusive Design
collection – comprising 314 lines across furniture,
bedding, lighting – it forms the basis of our
Contemporary offer. Our Christmas gift shop
featured a new range of homeware products
and accessories from leading European
designer Marcel Wanders.
CUSTOMER INSIGHT
“It’s not what you’d
expect from M&S.
Conran definitely
makes Home feel
more modern.”
Looking ahead
With value remaining front of mind for
customers, we will stay focused on
providing the great quality products
that they trust us to do well. We will
provide customers with compelling
reasons to buy, through appropriate
interpretations of trends and regularly
updated ranges. The roll-out of our
new store format will strengthen the
in-store presentation of our clothing
brands, helping customers better
identify the styles for them.
Clothing and Home continued