Marks & Spencer has distributed 800,000 discount vouchers offering 20 per cent off clothing, food and homewares this weekend as the retailer attempts to drive sales in the final weeks of its financial year, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
More than 70,000 M&S staff, along with thousands of pensioners, have been sent a dozen vouchers to distribute among family and friends. The move comes just weeks after the end of the retailer’s January Sale.
The giveaway is likely to spark further questions about current trading at M&S and increase concerns that the retailer is sitting on piles of unsold stock after a disappointing Christmas trading. However, an M&S spokesperson said, “We have tested it before on a regional basis. It has been in the pipeline for some time. Offers like these are common.”
Pali international analyst Nick Bubb said, “M&S denies that there is anything unusual in this, but this will revive concerns that its trading has remained disappointing since Christmas.”
Source: Retail Week
