It appears M&S can do little wrong in the popularity stakes. A week on from scoring top when it comes to providing AI-assisted Christmas gift inspiration, the high street giant has now been ranked as the UK’s most trusted retailer in 2025.
M&S
Even that summer cyberattack appears to have worked in its favour, proving one thing: “The difficulty shoppers faced in finding comparable alternatives elsewhere during the outage, reinforced perceptions that Marks & Spencer offers products that are genuinely hard to replace”, according to analytics company GlobalData, which surveyed 2,000 consumers.
By restoring service and offering customers discounts in the aftermath, “the retailer further strengthened its reliability and value proposition”, it added.
“To protect its lead, Marks & Spencer must continue investing in cyber resilience, while ensuring that its quality and value messaging remain a priority”, noted the report.
As a further endorsement for British brands, John Lewis & Partners was placed second while Tesco and Sainsbury’s completed the top five most trusted retailers, with Amazon the only non-UK brand.
Their inclusion suggests that heritage brands “benefit from familiarity and perceived accountability to UK shoppers”.
It was consistent quality and clear value for money that underpins consumer trust, with 84% and 81% of consumers, respectively, citing these factors as the leading drivers of trust in retailers.
“These factors reassure shoppers that a retailer is reliable, fair, and worth returning to. Trust is enhanced when retailers deliver consistently positive experiences across stores and channels, backed by reliable customer service”.
Aliyah Siddika, associate retail analyst at GlobalData, added: “Marks & Spencer’s narrow lead in consumer trust over John Lewis & Partners is not guaranteed to remain in 2026. John Lewis & Partners has the infrastructure to communicate its quality and value-for-money message more clearly with its revived ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ promise, which could help it overtake Marks & Spencer in the future. Notably, John Lewis ranks second despite a smaller store footprint, indicating the strength of its proposition and the potential for further momentum. Marks & Spencer must ensure that it remains committed to its focus on security and promoting its unique, quality-focused own-brand to retain shoppers’ trust.”
