M&S is expanding its lingerie offering and will soon be selling Sloggi and Triumph

The beloved UK retailer is adapting its lingerie offering to meet changing consumer habits

M&S underwear is hugely popular in the UK, but will be pitted against rival brands. (M&S)

Marks and Spencer’s incredibly comfy undies are going to have competition, as the company announces it will be expanding its range to include external rival brands for the first time in its history.

The company announced the decision to adapt its business model, introducing brands including Sloggi and Triumph to sit alongside existing own-brand lingerie ranges, explaining it wanted to give “clothing customers more reasons to shop on M&S.com”.

Bosses at the UK retailer have noted a shift in consumer spending to online shopping, with purchases moving away from office and formal wear to casual clothing and leisurewear.

“We need to give our customers more reason to shop at Marks and Spencer,” said Neil Harrison, director of brands at M&S, in a statement. 

“As part of our Never the Same Again programme we’re pleased to be introducing guest brands throughout the spring onto M&S.com as part of our plans to turbocharge online growth,” he said. “The exciting mix will offer our 22 million customers products we already know they love and introduce them to some new brands”.

Marks and Spencer started selling lingerie in 1926, and has become somewhat of a specialist in the undergarment department. The retailer can boast a third of Britain’s underwear sales, with one in three British women buying their bras from M&S. However, the company’s total sales slid by 15.8 per cent in 2020 in the six months to 26 September, with disappointing figures on clothing and home products.

Along with the new lingerie brands, the company is bringing in an “edited range” of brands for spring including Hobbs, Joules, Phase Eight, Seasalt Cornwall, Selected Home and Selected Femme, Sosandar, White Stuff and Y.A.S will be added to the womenswear department in a bid to be “to be more relevant” and “turbocharge online growth”.

In January, M&S confirmed the acquisition of Jaeger stock, after the brand went into administration in November.

M&S plans to shut dozens of stores before 2022. The most recent store closures include the Lincolnshire branch, which will close its doors on 11 April and M&S’s Spalding store, which will close on 1 May.

“Shopping habits are changing, so we’re reshaping our store estate so it is fit for the future and closing the Spalding store is a difficult but necessary part of these change,” said Lee Boon, M&S regional manager, to Lincolnshire Live.

Marks and Spencer also plans to close all its current accounts and its 29 bank branches this year.