M&S fashion sales dip as cyberattack ‘long tail’ weighs, but it wins back market share

M&S’s Golden Quarter was “solid”, the retail giant said on Thursday with the 13 weeks to 27 December seeing a record number of people shopping at the stores and online.

The period is the third quarter of the firm’s financial year and total sales were £4.993 billion. That was a big year-on-year leap due to the inclusion of the food-focused Ocado Retail operation this time. But excluding this, sales rose 3.3% to £4.15 billion.

Unfortunately, in Fashion, Home & Beauty specifically, sales of £1.73 billion were down 2.5% in total and 2.9% like-for-like. However, International sales rose 0.9% to £158 million.

The company said the Fashion, Home & Beauty performance came as online sales growth was offset by a store sales decline. This reflected reduced high street footfall, “and the long tail impact on stock data and management following the [cyberattack] earlier in the year. Stock into Sale during December was higher than last year but sell-through rates have been strong”.

It added that in total UK fashion, it “regained market share leadership in the period and now holds the number one position for customer perceptions of style, quality and value. New season product is resonating with customers and new stores such as Bristol Cabot Circus are exceeding expectations, demonstrating the benefits of the store rotation strategy”.

As for the International numbers, the company said the small uplift came as “new wholesale agreements, online growth and Food franchise offset Fashion, Home & Beauty shipment phasing and India performance”.

CEO Stuart Machin said: “Millions more trusted M&S to deliver the family Christmas. Food sales were strong and the business continues to outperform, hitting a new market share milestone in the period.

“Fashion, Home & Beauty is getting back on track as we work through the tail end of recovery. Sales overall were slightly down but online performance continued to improve as digital sales recovered. We planned a bigger Sale this year, with strong sell-through already making way for our new-season lines. 

“We enter this new calendar year full of ambition and laser focused on our plan to reshape M&S for further growth. In Fashion, our new season ranges are resonating well with customers as we double down on value, quality and style.”