M&S ready to take on Inditex to become a hit in India

To succeed, it has to take on the world’s biggest fashion retailer Inditex and its Zara brand, which has managed to outperform M&S in India even though it set up shop in one of the world’s biggest retail markets almost a decade later.

“Since they entered, Marks & Spencer has had one issue and that is getting their positioning right,” said Harminder Sahani, managing director of retail consultancy Wazir Advisors.

“They are now trying to become hot and happening and that is a very competitive segment.”

M&S wants to grow in India, a market that sees $38bn of apparel sales a year and where the biggest spenders are, on average, aged 35 and below. Chief executive Marc Bolland opened the retailer’s biggest India store yesterday in a fashionable shopping area of Mumbai.

Regulatory filings, however, show the retailer has failed to turn a profit in India since 2009.

Consultants say M&S has struggled since it set up shop in Asia’s third largest economy in 2000, squandering its “first mover” advantage.

Mr Bolland has built his global recovery plan for M&S around offering higher quality, more stylish fashion.

Clothing sales, however, have fallen for nine straight quarters, the retailer said last week, and first half profits fell nine per cent.

In India, Marks & Spencer Reliance Retail Ltd reported a net loss of 25.95m rupees in the year ended March 2012 on gross revenue of 2.8bn rupees. M&S now has about 35 stores in India.

York-based shoe retailer Pavers made history when it became the first foreign retailer to be allowed to open stores in India.