Barriers to “industrialisation” for interwar British retailing? The case of Marks & Spencer Ltd.

Scott, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1230-9040 and Walker, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3477-0236 (2017) Barriers to “industrialisation” for interwar British retailing? The case of Marks & Spencer Ltd. Business History, 59 (2). pp. 179-201. ISSN 1743-7938 doi: 10.1080/00076791.2016.1156088

Abstract/Summary

Research on international differences in retail productivity has highlighted formidable environmental barriers to the ‘industrialisation’ of mass retailing as a driver of declining British interwar productivity growth in this sector (and in services more generally). We examine evidence for such barriers, using a case study of a firm that built its interwar expansion strategy on ‘American’ retail methods – Marks & Spencer (M&S). We find that, rather than facing barriers to the adoption of American mass retail practices, M&S reaped major productivity gains from this process. This adds further evidence to an emerging literature rejecting the barriers to industrialisation thesis for retailing.