Marks and Spencer partners with Puma and Reebox to Expand Sportswear

In line with their innovative "Brands at M&S" initiative, Marks and Spencer have taken a significant step in augmenting their sportswear offerings by introducing global heavyweights Puma and Reebok to their curated selection, "The Sports Edit on M&S." The announcement on February 15th heralds the addition of over 140 high-quality products from these international brands to M&S.com during February and March.

This assortment will showcase an array of athletic and lifestyle apparel and footwear including Reebok's highly popular Club C and Nano lines. This move signifies a broader promise as it closely follows The Sports Edit's successful launch on M&S.com in February 2023, which saw sportswear searches skyrocket by over 110 percent compared to the previous year (LY).

Continuing to excel as a premium destination for sportswear, M&S.com now hosts twenty third-party partners alongside their own activewear brand, Goodmove, a range that sells an impressive 11.6 million pieces annually. Some of the world's most recognizable sportswear giants, such as adidas, Puma, Columbia, ASICS, and Reebok, are among the ranks, helping customers access over 800 meticulously chosen products on this specialized sportswear platform.

With sportswear projected to see a growth of 16 percentage points between 2022 and 2027, and accounting for an overwhelming £15.3 billion or approximately 26% of the UK's total apparel expenditure in 2022, Marks and Spencer are keen on seizing a chunk of this burgeoning market. The British retailer is acutely aware of their customer's preferences for branded footwear, leggings, sweatshirts, and outerwear, and is thus enhancing its portfolio to meet these demands head-on.

Nishi Mahajan, Director of Third-Party Brands at Marks & Spencer, asserts, "Our dedicated platform is designed to cater to diverse preferences, budgets, and activities—augmenting our primary Goodmove collection. With a focus on amplifying our market share and authenticity within the sportswear realm, we're swiftly expanding our portfolio and expect considerable growth this year."

Nick Paulson-Ellis, the ace behind The Sports Edit, acknowledges the tremendous progress made in just a year—proving the strategic prowess behind aligning with five of the top ten global sportswear brands through a judicious selection of partners on M&S.com. And the strategy does not end here; more partnerships are slated to be announced in the coming months.

The pledge to the "Brands at M&S" ethos is evident as The Sports Edit became an integral component of this strategy towards the close of 2022. Today, over 90 third-party brands have been meticulously integrated into the Brands at M&S platform, effectively boosting spending, purchase frequency, and attractively drawing in new customers—often driving them to pick up an M&S product alongside their branded buys.

Partners under the M&S umbrella benefit from exposure to an extensive pool of over 30 million M&S customers, invaluable customer data insights, and the convenience of omnichannel purchasing and returns—features that fortify the symbiotic relationship between M&S and its brand associates.