M&S adds third-party brands for back-to-school season

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jul 4, 2022

M&S is hoping its third-party brands success to continue into the back-to-school (BTS) category, adding a host of related names to the important trading season.

The UK high street retail giant’s‘Brands at M&S’ has expanded its childrenswear offer, adding shoe brand Clarks at 27 of its stores, school supplies brands Smiggle (60 stores) and Hype (eight stores) as well as launching Kickers and Jansport online at M&S.com. 

The plan is the make M&S a “one-stop-shop for back-to-school, offering everything from schoolwear to accessories, for a seamless shopping experience”.  M&S noted BTS is the third biggest retail event of the year, with one in four of its Clothing & Home customers now shopping kidswear.

The retailer said the latest expansion follows the success of a trial in eight stores across the UK for BTS last year. It noted that stores featuring Clarks complementary measure & fit service, “on average saw an 8% rise in customers in store, increasing total kidswear sales by 13% as it continues to grow market share”. 

It added: “As the go-to retailer for BTS, we’re building on the strength of our in-house offering and making it easier to remember the ‘extras’ by providing a carefully curated choice of third-party brands which appeal to our customers. 

It said the brands also offer convenient in-store services, such as free measure & fitting for footwear, plus complementary new school accessories – “a category where M&S does not have an extensive own-brand offer”.

Neil Harrison, Director of Brands at M&S, added: "BTS is a busy time for families and we want to make the shopping experience even easier for our customers by putting some of their favourite footwear and accessories brands, alongside our strong schoolwear offer. This is just one of the many ways we’re offering our 22 million Clothing & Home customers, more reasons to shop with M&S.”