M&S’s plastic bag blues

M&S yesterday announced a 5.3% fall in sales over the last three months, prompting a 25% collapse in the company’s share price and wiping £1.2 billion off the company’s market value.

Sir Stuart Rose, the company Chairman, pinned the blame on the credit crunch, calling it “the fastest and most severe slowdown since the early 1990’s”, although some analysts criticised M&S for focussing solely on expensive products.

There is little doubt that the retailers at the higher end of the market are struggling as consumers look for cheaper alternatives – Aldi and Lidl are booming. There has been much media coverage about this shift on the high street.

I’m sure the weakening economy has been the overwhelming reason for the decline in M&S fortunes, but it couldn’t have helped that the company also chose this period to launch its 5p charge for carrier bags, as part of its environmental commitment. For many customers, this must have been another irritant and expense.

M&S’s experience will hardly inspire the other supermarkets to follow suit. Indeed, there is evidence that M&S is now desperately backtracking. When I went to M&S today, I was automatically given a carrier bag, admittedly a slightly smaller version from the usual one. There was no charge and certainly no question about whether I wanted to purchase a ‘bag for life’.