Budget Brands Top Boden and M&S in Value for Money Survey

Boden and M&S are the two top clothing brands in Middle Britain, and they are highly reputed for quality.

16:00 03 July 2012

Boden and M&S are the two top clothing brands in Middle Britain, and they are highly reputed for quality. However, a recent blind test survey revealed that the two brands are considered as the bottom two in terms of value for money, with M&S being second last and Boden as last. The test revealed that the best value for money was provided by Primark, followed by Tesco’s F+F, Sainsbury’s Tu, H&M, and Next. 

 

M&S, however, was voted second for design and quality, tying with Primark. The first place went to Next, while the last place went to F+F. Boden, Tu, and H&M took up the third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively. 

 

The results led Neil Mason, retail analyst at Mintel, to remark, “Consumers are…looking for great value for money and looking closely at getting the balance right between quality and price.”

 

The study also showed that in clothing, price is not always proportional to quality. 

 

GfK, the team responsible for the study, came up with its results after interviewing 82 people for 30 minutes each last month. The interviews were conducted randomly at two shopping centres located in Nottingham and west London.

 

The participants were shown five items of clothing from each of the retailers but with the labels removed. They were then asked to rate the clothing for quality and design and again for value for money. Only 20% of participants thought that the quality level of the Boden clothing is worth its price tag, while 40% thought the same thing about the M&S piece, despite the fact that M&S has been the leading clothing store in the UK for many years. 

 

On the other hand, 88 percent of participants thought that clothes from Primark were worth their price. F+F, by Tesco, however, received conflicting results. Boden, however, received the worst blow.