M&S in race to sell more high street brands

MARKS & SPENCER is preparing a major push to sell more high street brands alongside its own clothes as it attempts to lure shoppers away from rivals Next and John Lewis.

M&S is understood to be planning to increase the number of third-party brands it sells to 100 from 60, in a move it expects will significantly increase sales.

It has already started selling clothes from brands such as Ted Baker, Superdry and Crew Clothing, alongside its own fashion lines.

Senior figures believe third-party sales could eventually be as high as £1bn – almost a tenth of total revenues for M&S, which last year posted sales of £10.9bn.

The push into third-party brands is being driven by Nishi Mahajan, who the company poached last month from her role running Amazon’s fashion business.

Part of the growth will be driven by clothing, but M&S is also seeking to sell beauty, sportswear and homeware brands on its website.

The step-up will mean more investment from M&S into warehouse space, although it is not currently seeking to buy any specific depots.

M&S started to sell brands on its website two years ago, and has enjoyed major growth from shoppers looking for high street names on its site. In the three months to the end of December, sales of third party brands rose 50pc.

The push by M&S comes after a similar rollout of more lines on rival Next, which has gone from 500 third-party brands to 1,000 in around three years.

A spokesman for M&S said it was taking a different approach from Next and was being “very clear that curated choice is key – not a plethora of brands that are hard for our customers to navigate”.

Richard Hyman, of Thought Provoking Consulting, said the change would be a delicate balance for M&S. He said:“A big question for me is to what extent are sales of M&S products being cannibalised by sales of third party brands?”