Marks and Spencer : M&S OUTLINES ITS PLANS AS RETAIL REOPENING CONFIRMED

• Retailer runs 'Bring On' campaign as customers look ahead to brighter days
• Services launched to help customers Shop Your Way - from easier payment to contact free bra fit
• Sparks to boost rewards for customers for 2 weeks from 12^th April - one customer every day in every store will win their shopping for free

M&S OUTLINES ITS PLANS AS RETAIL REOPENING CONFIRMED

• Retailer runs 'Bring On' campaign as customers look ahead to brighter days
• Services launched to help customers Shop Your Way - from easier payment to contact free bra fit
• Sparks to boost rewards for customers for 2 weeks from 12^th April - one customer every day in every store will win their shopping for free

Following confirmation of the start of retail reopening for England and Wales on 12^th April, M&S today outlines its plans to reopen all Clothing & Home space across its stores, offering quality, style & value products alongside flexible, easy and rewarding in store experiences so that customers can Shop Your Way at M&S. Find out more about how we're helping customers shop their way here.

Relevant and quality product - all at trusted value

Nearly two thirds of M&S customers are looking forward to dressing up in smarter or more stylish clothes than they have worn in lockdown. Online demand for dresses has steadily grown since the end of February and last week M&S saw big search increases for sandals & sunglasses, with its 'new in' womenswear page now the most visited on M&S.com.

M&S's 'Bring On' campaign will put a spotlight on the products customers are searching for online as social events start to return and the summer season kicks off - from relaxed tailoring in soft fabrics perfect for outdoor gatherings, to denim staples offering an easy update to your everyday style. The campaign will also extend across M&S Food as well, highlighting customer favourites including 3 for £10 on Grill and summer specials like the Cherry Blossom Gin Liqueur - giving customers no reason not to Bring on the BBQ.

M&S's Head of Clothing & Home for Retail, Alison Grainger shares her shopping predictions: 'We know lots of customers are excited about dressing up for picnics and alfresco dining with friends & family and our stores will be bursting with tiered dresses, pretty tops and new seasonal denim. Whilst it's no longer all just about loungewear, as you would expect we're going to be dedicating more space to casualwear in our shops than pre-pandemic. In store customers will also see wardrobe essentials redefined - with relaxed t-shirts and sweats which have now become mainstays updated in fresh, vibrant colours. Optimistic slogan tops have been popular online, and I think lots of customers will pick these up when they visit us in store.'

Friendly colleagues and refreshed in store services

Changes in customers' shopping habits have been accelerated by the pandemic, and M&S has set its stores up to best serve customers how they want to shop today. The retailer is set to permanently keep firm favourites like a friendly colleague greeter at the door, as well as adding new digitally powered services to enable customers to Shop Your Way, and offer the best of its stores and M&S.com to customers. Highlights include:

Bra fit:Customers at 250 stores which sell lingerie can choose from a contact-free bra fit from its expert colleagues, or a virtual at home appointment with an M&S expert via video.

Click & Collect: With ease and convenience top of mind for customers, M&S is offering 8pm cut off for free next day pick up at over 800 stores via Click & Collect. The retailer is also trialling new innovations like Express Collection and Digital Check-In at around twenty stores to make collecting orders even easier for customers.

M&S Cafés: Nearly 100 M&S Cafes will be open for takeaway, with 14 also open for 'dine-out' in dedicated outdoor seating areas - perfect for a spot of breakfast or lunch as the warmer weather returns.

Video Powered Retail:Available across furniture and beauty, M&S is connecting customers via video appointment with a specialist colleagues in-store at M&S White City, one of its five digital trials stores, offering great service to customers to help inform purchases before visiting stores, as well as shopping from home.

Even easier and more rewarding ways to pay at M&S

In the last year M&S has seen a 200% increase in downloads of its App and over one million transactions via its Mobile Pay Go digital shopping option - having rolled out from a small trial to all foodhalls in 2020. With digital and mobile shopping here to stay, M&S is rebranding MPG and bringing together all of its digital store shopping options together under the Scan and Shop banner making it easy for customers to shop using their mobile or an in-store handheld device, so that they can pay quickly and skip the queues.

Additionally, M&S is expanding its popular on-the-spot payment service Pay With Me - introduced in the run up to Christmas to help bust queues at 200 of its busiest foodhalls - to 50 of its top lingerie stores, so customers can purchase lingerie straight after their bra fit appointment without needing to visit a till.

M&S is also set to boost one of its most popular rewards for customers shopping with Sparks, with every M&S store, every day set to reward one lucky Sparks customer with their entire shopping for free. Running for a limited two weeks from 12^th April, the campaign comes as M&S recently hit its 10 millionth Sparks customer, with over 2.5m new customers joining since it relaunched in July last year.

Sacha Berendji, M&S Retail, Ops & Property Director said:

'The last year has accelerated many of the trends and shopping patterns we were seeing pre-crisis, and we have responded as part of our Never the Same Again transformation programme to build a shopping experience that's fit for the future and one that enables customers to shop the way they want. As we start to reopen our Clothing & Home space, we've pulled out all the stops to deliver the stylish, relevant products our customers are searching for, and help deliver a more flexible, easier and rewarding shopping experience for our customers so that they have everything they need to be ready to bring on the summer.'

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

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Notes to Editors

List of 14 M&S cafes to offer 'dine-out' in dedicated outdoor seating from 12 April:

Acorn Park Crawley

Anlaby Hull SF

Berkhamsted SF

Bidston Moss

Exeter

Handforth Dean

Kingsley Village

Kingswood Hull SF

Longbridge

Meole Brace Shrewsbury

Newport Isle of Wight

Thurrock
Walkden SF

Waterlooville SF