M&S is introducing self checkout technology to its fitting rooms, meaning that customers would not have to queue twice.
According to reports, the new changing room checkouts could be introduced to as many as 100 stores by 2028. Under revamp plans, the technology will one day feature in all of the high street giant’s 180 clothing branches.
“We’d like customers to be able to walk straight into the fitting room with no queue, try on what they’ve chosen, then pay there and just walk out,” explained Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S.
The checkouts have been trialled in 28 of the retailer’s recently refurbished sites, including its Fosse Park flagship in Leicester. M&S will now add one self checkout per changing room area, with more installed based on shopper demand.
M&S has recently put a real focus on its stand-alone clothing format. A company profile in the RetailX UK Fashion 2024 report looks at how the company has reinvented and broadened its fashion offer.
In November 2023, the retailer regained its crown as the UK’s biggest womenswear retailer, overtaking Next in terms of value of sales. It was a position that the company hadn’t held since pre-pandemic in 2019.
M&S reported underlying sales of clothing up 5.5% in the six months to 30 September 2023, with particularly strong sales in holiday wear and denim. Its profit margins also increased as more of its products were sold at full price, rather than being discounted.
Building a brand portfolio
The retailer is reinventing itself as an icon of style and continues to build its brand portfolio, most recently rolling out Nobody’s Child pop-up shops to 48 new stores in March on top of the existing 12 stores. The 450-sq-ft spaces offer a capsule collection of more than 30 pieces from the SS24 collection.
Nobody’s Child was the first third-party brand to be introduced to the company’s platform. Since then the Brands at M&S platform has grown to more than 90 third-party brands, helping to drive new customers, frequency and spend.
In a similar move, the company has also expanded its range of sports and activewear. It launched The Sports Edit on M&S.com in February 2023 and earlier this year revealed that in the 12 months since searches for sportswear had grown by 110% on M&S.com.
The website is now home to 20 third-party partners, with recent additions including Puma and Reebok.
Read the full M&S profile, authored by Liz Morrell, in the RetailX UK Fashion 2024 report. It is one of six profiles, which also includes:
- Kurt Geiger -The 60-year-old British business continues to thrive in its luxury footwear and accessories segment
- Secret Sales – Continued growth, with ambition to become Europe’s largest marketplace for discounted fashion
- Zara – Since its debut in 1998, Zara has continued to thrive in the UK market. It has a clear focus on sustainability
- Boohoo – Continues to surprise as it moves from fast fashion towards a focus on sustainability
- Cider – Popularity is brewing among younger consumers, with its smart fashion model regarded as key
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