Marks & Spencer is looking to attract more shoppers from traditional supermarkets by expanding the number of food products targeted at families.
The fast-growing retailer is increasing its ‘bigger pack, better value’ range by a third, with over 100 lines now available in larger formats in a bid to convince more people to do their weekly shop in its stores. New lines added to the range with lower prices include 12 Free Range British Eggs (£3.20), a four-pack of Eat Now Eat Later Hass Avocados (£3.50), and larger size Double Cream (600ml – £2.65).
Meanwhile, M&S is launching 40 new and upgraded lines, including the brand’s first own-label medicines such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, allergy tablets and children’s liquid paracetamol. The retailer is also introducing eight new baby food lines, including baby milk, after the launches of family-sized pasta sauces and toiletries, such as shampoo and conditioner, earlier this year.
Some of M&S’s homecare lines have also been upgraded, with new 5-in-1 washing pods launching today. Available in bio and non-bio, both are claimed to offer improved cleaning and stain removal. The chain recently upgraded its washing-up liquids to improve their cleaning power.
M&S stated that the focus on deepening the breadth of its range has helped broaden its appeal, with growth across all life stages in the last 12 weeks and particularly strong volume growth with families. The chain noted that has outperformed a declining market by +20%pts, growing market share with families by nearly 0.3%pts YOY.
“When we talk about being a shopping list retailer, it means that customers can trust us to have what they need when they come shopping, in the right size and at the right price,” said Alex Freudmann, MD at M&S Food.
“We’ve been working hard to close our range gaps and make sure the price and quality of our key family lines delivers against customers expectations. All this has been increasing our credibility with families and we’re seeing strong growth with these shoppers. As we always say at M&S, there’s still lots of opportunity to go further and really cement M&S as the destination for families to get everything they need, at the quality you can only get from M&S.”
Last week, M&S revealed that it was accelerating its store rotation and renewal programme, with £300m being invested in sixteen new, nine extended, and twelve renewed outlets during its current financial year.
NAM Implications:
- A clear demonstration of going for an increased share of family business…
- …at M&S quality.
- And given that in flat-demand markets, growth comes at the expense of rivals…
- …suppliers will watch for retaliatory moves from the mults.
