What are the key strategic questions behind purchasing decisions, what is a product line, its importance and its advantages and disadvantages for major retailer Marks and Spencer plc and its competitorsThere are four main strategic issues behind a company's purchasing decisions: the first is "who are our target customers?" ”, for Marks and Spencer plc, their products and services are based on home, food, as well as clothing for women, men and children. They seem to attract mainly a middle-aged clientele. Attracting particular age groups can have advantages and disadvantages; this can be an advantage because it creates an opportunity to reduce investment costs by spending more money on products/services aimed at middle-aged customers and reducing spending on other customer groups. On the other hand, this can be a disadvantage for them as it leads to a gap in their potential market; as they do not target a large enough market, they do not meet all customer demands and therefore lose customers. They only sell products under the Marks and Spencer brand; this can be a disadvantage because it decreases customers' options. “Marks and Spencer has confirmed it will begin selling branded products in its stores across the UK” (BBC News, 2009, p.1). This can increase their customer base and create a more attractive image of the company to new customers. “Which of their needs can we satisfy? » Marks and Spencer plc responds to consumer needs in a variety of ways: "Marks and Spencer has led the way in establishing a more efficient approach to the overall logistics problem of getting goods to the customer at the lowest cost, using logistics specialists to contribute to efficiency” (Baily et al, 2005, p. 324). They together...... middle of paper ......o Retail, London: Juta and Company Ltd• Reynolds,J. Cuthbertson, C. (2004) Retail Strategy The view from the bridge, London: Butterworth Heinemann• TendersInfo, (2010) High street sales jump, available at: http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview /docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T13443823831&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T13443823837&cisb=22_T13443823836&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=343637&doc No= 24 (accessed: 01/12/11) • http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/ nexis/history/recentdocview.do?listId=1541782387&lni=7Y74T9V0YBWYS11H&attachmentId=&attachmentType=&sourceId=343637&attachmentNum=&attachmentSMI=&displayType=&savedLocale=en_GB_ukBusiness&projectId=&returnTo=20_T13 54674141&publicationDate=&docTitle=United+Kingdom+:+High+street+sal...&start= 1&documentType =• Varley, R. (2001) Retail Product Management, London: Routledge