M&S, late to the booming athleisure market, launches sportswear range

Marks & Spencer on Friday launched a new athleisure range, a 150-piece collection of affordable sportswear including leggings, performance tops and sports bras.

With a growing consumer focus on leisure and wellness, the sportswear market is outperforming all other major retail sectors and M&S is hoping to cache its share of the athleisure pie.

Called Goodmove, M&S introduced the range as its latest activewear collection “made for the modern mover.” There are five types of gym leggings, presumably suitable for whatever one’s level of fitness or active interests. Prices start at 15 pounds for a basic pair and go up to 45 pounds for sculpting tights.

Earlier this week M&S launched a marketing campaign to support Goodmove on its social channels, including a playlist on Spotify, with many shoppers lauding its new direction. On Instagram several users cited in-store availability issues and others enquired if more athleisure styles would be added to its Petite range.

Late to the athleisure trend

M&S is late to the sportswear game, a sector estimated to grow 20.9 percent to 2023 and valued at 6.7 billion pounds according to ResearchandMarkets.com. Given the strong growth and consumer appetite for replacing casualwear with sportswear, it is no surprise that retailers and brands are continuing to venture into and invest in the sector.

Findings from ResearchandMarkets.com show 61 percent of sportswear shoppers exercise in some form at least a few times a week, however this rises among the over 55s, making it clear that there is opportunity to drive spend among mature shoppers.

58.2 percent of sports footwear shoppers agree that the brand is important to them when purchasing an item, with the figure rising among younger consumers.

In November M&S announced Richard Price, currently CEO of F&F Clothing, Tesco PLC, had been appointed to the role of Managing Director, Clothing & Home. M&S suffered a 17.1 drop in profits in 2019, particularly across its fashion ranges, which are often regarded as frumpy. Its fashion department and clothing division has been plagued for years, with the retailer previously considering abandoning its long-standing womenswear brand, Per Una, which had been underperforming.

Image courtesy M&S