// New survey of 5,000 women finds M&S is beating Next, Primark and Boohoo thanks to its pricing, quality and style
// The retailer improved more than its retail rivals and scored better than it did pre-pandemic
M&S has been named the best fashion brand as shoppers vote with their feet and return to the high street stalwart.
Research by French bank BNP Paribas showed that over the past year, an increasing number of shoppers have been enticed by the retailer’s clothing offering with affordable prices, leading to a ‘real resurgence of the brand’.
A survey of 5,000 women in France, Germany, Spain and the UK looked at feelings towards M&S and rivals including Next, Primark and Boohoo.
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M&S shoppers were more positive on factors such as pricing, quality and style than the previous year, with the retailer improving more than its rivals and also scoring better than it did before the pandemic.
The report said customers have also flocked through its doors after ‘the demise of high street peers like Debenhams’.
BNP Paribas said: “management has put the spark back into M&S’, resulting in its clothing and home division – which contributes to more than half of group profits – having ‘strongly improved in the eyes of the consumer.”
Retail analyst Clive Black said: “They have basically worked out what their customers want and what they don’t, so are burrowing in on their core strengths of ladies denim, nightwear and underwear.’
But M&S still lagged behind High Street stalwarts such as Next on most metrics.
At the start of the week, Marks & Spencer announced plans to sell more high-street brands alongside its own clothes in a bid to entice shoppers away from the likes of Next and John Lewis.
It comes as rival John Lewis has problems “coming along like buses”, Black said, after the employee-owned firm said it would not give staff an annual bonus after plunging to a loss of £234m.
He added: “If M&S was in the shape it was a decade ago John Lewis might not be so concerned.”
And retail analyst Nick Bubb highlighted a “stronger management team” at M&S under chief executive Stuart Machin, who took on the job in May 2022.
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