Summary
Misunderstanding the needs of local market of M&S make its business having a worse start, Wrong planning may due to the intelligence work is not local & at the same time professional enough at the head quarter. Being misled by the local statistic Real professional is needed in China market place. Shanghai is yet an international city!
Analysis
I can image very easily why such an dramtic mistake happened in a such a profound retail gaint. My 12 years experiences in Shanghai retail industry, especially in high-end luxury product, equipped me with a sense on what is worth of value to the target customer in China.
The middle class is actually a large population in Shanghai but their buying pattern is still in a manner of either cheap stuff at very local department store e.g. No.1 Department Store and WalMart in Pudong or quite an expensive piece from Plaza 66 well-known international brands Like LV or Tods. M&S products has no strong impression for the middle class in Shanghai and even preceived as not-worth-of-value when compare with their local counterpart. This is the basic understanding of the society and how their living is for every retailer in China. Saliently, M&S is far from this understanding.
Secondly, the Shanghai district government is tend to invite BIG NAME to their district in fair term, but the location offer is always yet to mature. To calculate the break-even point in China retail environment, one has to calculate at every meter distance. The invitation of the government might only indicate you are part of their plan or dream only. So, please relate their's dream to your break-even model for the first 18 months. Remember, the term offer is fair enough but never sufficient for any retailer to be avoided from being taking-over by the government-owned department store.
Good and Real professional expert on this area is always some guy you don't know before or can't be easily recommended from the ELITE of your present team. See the disaster of the LV's timepiece ELITE team in Shanghai....For over 10 years! nothing is achieved!
