Marks & Spencer (M&S) has reported a significant boost in Christmas food sales, but its clothing arm continues to struggle due to the lingering effects of last year's cyber-attack.
The retailer revealed that despite a challenging autumn and winter for the fashion industry, driven by mild weather and reduced consumer spending power, M&S saw strong sales growth in its core grocery business. Sales of staple items such as Italian ready meals, in-store bakery, and deli products drove the increase, attracting more customers to its stores.
However, clothing sales suffered a 2.9% decline, largely attributed to the long-term impact of the cyber breach on stock data and management, as well as reduced high street footfall. This poor performance is concerning, given the struggles faced by other fashion retailers in the same period.
M&S has been working to reshape its business strategy, which includes closing underperforming stores and increasing space for food. The retailer now has around 230 full-line stores containing both clothing and food, while nearly 800 stores specialize in food alone.
Despite this, M&S's non-food business is slowly recovering, with sales growth expected as the company works to get back on track after last year's cyber-attack. The food business gained market share, thanks to strong sales of core grocery items, new products, and upgraded offerings such as Italian ready meals, in-store bakery, and deli.
The online grocery specialist Ocado also reported a 13.7% increase in sales, driven by a jump in the number of items ordered (10.7%) and the number of orders (11%). These results suggest that M&S is taking steps to mitigate the damage caused by last year's cyber-attack and build a stronger food business.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin acknowledged the challenges faced by the retailer but expressed confidence in its non-food business, stating that it was "getting back on track as we work through the tail end of recovery." The company will continue to accelerate its reshaping strategy, driven by an uncertain consumer environment.
The retailer revealed that despite a challenging autumn and winter for the fashion industry, driven by mild weather and reduced consumer spending power, M&S saw strong sales growth in its core grocery business. Sales of staple items such as Italian ready meals, in-store bakery, and deli products drove the increase, attracting more customers to its stores.
However, clothing sales suffered a 2.9% decline, largely attributed to the long-term impact of the cyber breach on stock data and management, as well as reduced high street footfall. This poor performance is concerning, given the struggles faced by other fashion retailers in the same period.
M&S has been working to reshape its business strategy, which includes closing underperforming stores and increasing space for food. The retailer now has around 230 full-line stores containing both clothing and food, while nearly 800 stores specialize in food alone.
Despite this, M&S's non-food business is slowly recovering, with sales growth expected as the company works to get back on track after last year's cyber-attack. The food business gained market share, thanks to strong sales of core grocery items, new products, and upgraded offerings such as Italian ready meals, in-store bakery, and deli.
The online grocery specialist Ocado also reported a 13.7% increase in sales, driven by a jump in the number of items ordered (10.7%) and the number of orders (11%). These results suggest that M&S is taking steps to mitigate the damage caused by last year's cyber-attack and build a stronger food business.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin acknowledged the challenges faced by the retailer but expressed confidence in its non-food business, stating that it was "getting back on track as we work through the tail end of recovery." The company will continue to accelerate its reshaping strategy, driven by an uncertain consumer environment.
This is kinda weird, M&S's clothing arm doing so bad while their food sales are on fire 
They should focus more on getting their stock data back in order and stop relying on the cyber-attack being a one-time thing 
But overall, it's good to see they're trying to rebuild and adapt to the changing market... still gonna miss out on sales tho 
, but 2.9% decline is still pretty worrying 
. It shows how reliant they are on foot traffic in their stores and if customers are avoiding shopping there due to the online security issues that's gonna be hard to recover from 
. And its good to see Ocado doing well too 
, maybe M&S can learn a thing or two from them about online grocery shopping 
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can't help but wonder how they recovered from that cyber attack tho... 2.9% decline in clothing sales ain't exactly inspiring stuff 
and I'm not buying the whole "recovery" narrative just yet 
One day it's all about the latest trends and must-haves, and the next it's struggling because of a cyber-attack 
. I mean, M&S was already working on its strategy to increase space for food in stores, but it's like they're trying to put out fires left over from last year instead of focusing on new sales 
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But, at the same time, I feel bad for their clothing arm. It's like they're stuck in neutral, just trying to recover from last year's mishap 
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. But on the bright side, their food business is looking strong! 
. Maybe they should focus more on building up that food side of things instead of stressing about clothes? 
After all, who needs fancy dresses when you have a good lasagna? 
I cant believe M&S is doing so well with their food sales, but their clothes are just tanking 
They should like focus on one thing and do it right instead of trying to be everything to everyone 
. And what's up with all these store closures? It feels like they're just getting rid of old stuff without giving customers what they want 
I mean, they're doing alright with those Italian ready meals and in-store bakery... but their clothes? Ugh, my grandma used to shop there all the time and now they're struggling 
. Last year's cyber-attack must've been a disaster for them. Did you know that some of these high street stores are closing left and right? It's like, what happened to M&S back in my day... when you could find a decent pair of shoes for under 20 quid?! 
. But, at the same time, I think its a bit worrying that their clothing business is still struggling after last year's cyber-attack 
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I'm not surprised, though - who needs clothes when you have a solid food section and a decent online game? 
Still, it's gonna be tough for them to get back on track. Hopefully they can shake off that cyber-attack vibe and start growing their clothing business again soon. 
Their grocery business is really stepping up and gaining market share. It's like they're making up for lost time after last year's cyber-attack 
13.7% sales increase is huge! maybe M&S should take a page out of their book and focus on their food game even more 
their grocery business is killing it, especially with italian ready meals and bakery stuff, it's like people are stocking up for christmas 
anyway, cyber breach last year still got them, but they're slowly getting back on track 