Rationales behind Marks & Spencer’s failure in the Chinese market, an important lesson to foreign firms

Abstract

China has a complex institutional environment, with its rapidly expanding economy and a rising number of middle class, businesses like Marks & Spencer (M&S) opted to enter this foreign market in 2010 with the expectation of increasing their revenue and brand recognition. The 4Ps marketing model is used in this essay to explain why M&S has failed in their market entry and operations in China. Dissecting and describing the problems associated with their promotion, product, choice of shop location, and pricing. Based on the problems identified, this article also proposes potential solutions on what M&S could do in the pre-entry phase, and the post-entry phase to prevent such failure from occurring.