Marks & Spencer's position as Britain's biggest clothing retailer under threat as sales slide Today, M&S will report a drop of up to 6pc in like-for-like sales in general merchandise, which is primarily clothing, for the quarter to the end of March. However, food sales could rise by as much as 3.5pc, Nomura has forecast. This fall in sales would result in M&S reporting a 1.3pc decline in like-for-likes revenues and a 0.7pc rise in total sales for its financial year, the company's worst performance in four years. In contrast, Next's sales rose by 3.1pc over the last year. If the current trajectories continue, then Next will overtake M&S's clothing sales this year and the entire M&S general merchandise division, which takes into account homeware sales, in 2015. Mr Mercer said: "A key plank of Marc Bolland's revival strategy for M&S is to excel as a multi-channel retailer. But multi-channel is no panacea - especially if your product isn't right. We think M&S needs a more wide-ranging overhaul that tackles short-term product issues as well as the weakness of its position as mid-market monolith in an age of more targeted propositions. In the immediate past it appears to have misfired on fashionability in its core womenswear segment. It has seen an ageing of its clothing customer base. Consumer research found M&S's average clothing shopper - at nearly 49-years-old - was by a fair distance the oldest of any major clothing retailer. M&S has lost share to rivals with more fashionable offers and more targeted propositions, including Next, Debenhams and John Lewis.