Marks & Spencer has announced it will welcome sportswear giants adidas and Sweaty Betty to its ‘The Sports Edit on M&S’ platform as the retailer continues to bolster its sportswear offer as part of ‘Brands at M&S’ strategy.
The launch of adidas and Sweaty Betty will see the addition of an extensive mix of women’s sportswear products to M&S.com from September. The range features performance footwear including adidas’ running favourites the Adizero and Ultraboost, alongside stylish athleisure and fitness apparel including Sweaty Betty’s renowned Zero Gravity range, and of course, their award-winning Power leggings.
Following the strategic investment in The Sports Edit last year, in February, M&S launched a dedicated sportswear platform on M&S.com offering customers curation-led product inspiration plus wellness content and in-depth advice. adidas and Sweaty Betty will bring the total number of third-party sportswear brands available on M&S.com to 18 and sit alongside HOKA, Girlfriend Collective, and ASICS– as well as M&S’ activewear brand Goodmove – which continues to go from strength to strength – selling over 1.6 million items annually.
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Going into battle on Sportswear
As M&S continues to reshape for growth, it is building on the strength of its in–house activewear brand Goodmove – which has proved particularly popular amongst womenswear shoppers –welcoming dynamic sportswear brands which broaden the existing product offer for women.
The sportswear market is estimated to be worth over £4billion and is expected to continue to grow by 6% between 2023 and 2028*. The growing awareness and participation of women in sport has been fueling demand for sportswear at M&S; during the FIFA Women’s World Cup in August searches for sportswear on M&S.com increase by +39% with searches for ‘football’ trebling. Latest insight from M&S’ Family Matters Index highlights that women are increasingly keen to prioritise their physical health and live more healthy lifestyles, therefore M&S are responding to the increased demand online.
Nishi Mahajan, Director of Third-Party Brands at M&S commented: “Earlier this year we launched a dedicated sportswear hub through The Sports Edit on M&S.com – home to our own brand Goodmove, as well as a selection of carefully curated third-party brand partners. As we continue to grow market share and build credibility in sportswear, we’re delighted to be welcoming adidas and Sweaty Betty to the platform as part of our wider ‘Brands at M&S’ strategy. From specialist performance footwear to stylish athleisure, M&S has something to cater for every energy level. This is just one of the way’s we’re continuing to become more relevant to our customers lifestyles.”
Nick Paulson-Ellis, Founder and CEO of The Sports Edit commented: “It’s been over six months since we launched The Sports Edit on M&S.com and during this time we’ve got to know the M&S customer – what they desire, but more importantly, what they require. Our carefully curated edit of sportswear partners now includes they very best product from adidas – one of the largest sportswear brands in the world – as well as Sweaty Betty, a British heritage brand we know our customers love. We’re so excited to see the response from customers this season.”
The Sports Edit is part of the wider ‘Brands at M&S strategy; the online platform has now grown to over 50 third-party brands with sales more than doubled to over £70m, representing 4.1% of total Clothing & Home sales. The carefully curated approach is driving new customers, frequency and increased spend, while ensuring that majority of orders also contain an M&S product. Whilst Brand partners have access to over 30m M&S customers, substantial customer data and engagement alongside omni channel purchase and return opportunities.
adidas and Sweaty Betty will be available on M&S.com from early October. Outerwear brands Columbia, Regatta and Sorel will also be joining M&S.com this season.
