India a priority market for Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer, a British retail brand that entered Indian in 2001 as a franchise business, sees India as a key international market for growing its presence.

The brand recently made a landmark by opening its 50th store in Jaipur. India now has the largest number of Marks & Spencer stores outside of the UK. In 2008, Marks & Spencer signed a joint venture with Reliance Retail. The brand has a mix of ownership model across its international business; including franchise, wholly owned and joint venture.

Patrick Bousquet Chavanne, Executive Director, Marketing & International, M&S said, “India is a key market for Marks & Spencer, where we are growing in scale and relevance. Sustainable economic development, a burgeoning middle class and an instinctive understanding of the M&S brand makes India a fertile market for continued expansion.”

Sharing a word on the expansion plans for India, the brand informed TFW in an exclusive interaction, “As one of our priority international markets we are continuing to expand our presence in India, including opening 12 new stores in the last financial year. We are focusing on building a leadership position in India by opening a cluster of supporting stores around flagship store locations in tier I cities such a Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Our plans also include expanding into attractive secondary cities and entering new tier II cities such as Vijaywada, Jalandhar and Vizag. Our strategy for expansion includes increasing our reach across India which we have done recently by going online via India's leading marketplaces Myntra and Flipkart for the first time.”