to think we can come up with good ideas to save M&S

[FleurDelacoeur]

M&S definitely on the skids. Profits down, stores closing, Chief Exec saying radical transformation required. Fairly clear that this has happened because they're not listening to their core market, which I'd wager has a fairly large crossover with the MN demographic. So Steve Rowe, if you're listening, here are a few bullet points.

1. Scrap the Sparks card.
2. Sack your womenswear design team. All of them. Now.
3. Ditch the Per Una brand.
4. Rethink your over generous returns policy.

Tax Amazon and other online retailers properly so that bricks and mortar stores aren't having to compete with tax avoiders.

Just seen an M & S ad in which a group of people (all women, as it happened) raved about M & S sprouts and how they'd never buy anyone else's.

They cost TWO pounds. You can get a bag from Tesco's for 29p at the moment.

I wish they'd differentiate their collections by age and make each clothing section feel like a different boutique . . . one of my pet peeves is shopping alongside people who are 40 years older than me. Yy that may make me ageist but equally I don't shop in Top Shop any more because I feel too old for there.

Think about the customer experience - if I need a pair of black trousers don't make me walk all round the store looking at 20 sub-brand offerings (then buying nothing cos they've all got something odd that puts me off).

I like the shoes. Do more of those.

Bra sizes in 28 and a 30 back in larger cup sizes. And not in stupidly loud colours that show under clothes.
I want simple tailored clothing in good fabric with maybe ONE interesting button somewhere, not an orange monstrosity with ruffles everywhere.

1. Scrap the Sparks card. Or make it a proper loyaly card, like Tesco.
2. Sack your womenswear design team. All of them. Now.
3. Decide WHO your market actually is. Young? Old? Middle aged? Then stick to it. Don't try to be everything to everyone.
4. Ditch the Per Una brand. (Who buys this stuff?)
5. Focus on selling a good quality capsule wardrobe in natural fabrics. No more tat.
6. open cafes where you collect your M & S order, try it on and if it didn't fit, you could return or re-order. LIke it!

Sell proper maternity clothes. If they are trying to appeal to all women, which it appears they are. Why are they missing a big chunk out. Also nursing clothes, women often breastfeed for longer than they're pregnant. All they seem to have now is bras and underwear.

They need to be better at keeping popular sizes in stock. I was in a large city centre store today looking to buy dh some socks so I can throw his old holey ones out and there wasn’t a single pack that went above a men’s size 9. That’s just insane.

They used to do really nice plain cotton knickers with no side seam - instead there were seams 1/3 of the way across the front. Now the only option is those hideous no VPL things which feel too flimsy, or ones with a seam at the back. Sort out the boring underwear basics!

And YES to ditching the Sparks card. Utterly infuriating.

Have WOMEN design the clothes not middle aged men in suits.

1. get rid of the frills
2. make sure the cut of clothes is decent
3. good quality basics- black trousers, white shirt, black cardigan, fitted jumper and so on but in a range of colours
4. bras in bigger sizes. I’m a 34GG sometime I just want a decent white, black, nude bra, not floral and bright
5. bring back the old panties that fit nice and last ages
6. I’m 37, I don’t want to be walking around in the same clothes as my mum 72, or aunt 84. So age appropriate would be nice.
7. having men’s socks size 12 plus in stock
8. having designers that know and understand the market, rather than just their own personal taste it seems

Bring back the Harvey Wallbanger!

god I love M&S. I'm always afraid of it going under. I've lived in the US for over a decade now, and I still buy all my basic clothes there! When I come home to the UK I stock up on everything I can't get here in the US: plain black socks, knickers, plain black sleeveless t-shirts (I wear one every day shh its a vest! ), jeans, and shoes. I find they have much better selections for non-skinny women too! When I put on quite a bit of weight after having a baby I searched everywhere for a swimming costume, and eventually got one from M&S when I was back. The US has a serious M&S shaped gap in it's women's ware market: decent quality, reliable basics that are affordable but not cheaply made. We're all complaining on here, but actually for the price, the quality at M&S is great.

Hm, reading some of these. I don't understand why you object to shopping alongside people who are older than you? You'll be 70 one day too!! That's what I like about it -- that you know it's got classic/basic clothes that are suitable for anyone, when most stores seem to cater to only young people.

(Also, the last time I was in a M&S I was trying on a very classic, camel-colored winter coat that was on sale, wondering whether to get it or not. A very elderly, genteel lady browsing the same rack leant over and told me I looked amazing in it! She then gave me tips on how to tell it was good quality, and how I should look after it. One of my favourite purchases in recent years -- and I follow her tips still!)

They lost any grasp of what quality actually is years ago. In terms of food, clothes or customer service.

Some of their staff are still lovely, but that’s as far as it goes now.

I Hope m and s read this because it's basically a free focus group!

I agree they have tried to be all things to all people and their stores are often jumbled or cluttered. If you have a wheelchair or pushchair they are very hard to get around.

Their food is nice, but it is becoming just that bit too expensive. I know food prices have generally gone up but the gap between them and other retailers seems huge.

Their big differentiator for me, on the high street at least, is service. You can still usually find a store assistant and they seem happy to help.

Their Christmas gifts this year (in beauty department) are fantastic and they have been really clever using the advent calendar which should drive repeat custom.

Sort out your kids clothing ranges. Less sparkly shit for the girls, and just nicer clothes for the boys.

Thanks for resurrecting this 6 month old thread to tell us where you won't shop.

Good God woman, she didn’t hold a gun to your head and force you to read it. And it’s not exactly a time-sensitive topic. But no, you just had to make a dig about a total non-issue.

Just less stuff! Everytime I go in I don't know where to start, I am sure there are good clothes in there but the Birmingham one has womens' wear over three floors! Where to start?!

I think they could expand their homeware too. Good quality quilt covers and sheets, nice towels, basic crockery.

Make more of a fanfare about the skincare and make up ranges they have in store.

On kids clothes: I live in optimistic hope that one day, eventually, one of the big high street stores will start selling a better range of plain colorful clothes for both boys and girls. Not every girl wants to wear head to toe pink. Not every boy wants to wear brown or dark blue. There don't have to be dinosaurs or trucks on everything (I'm guessing unicorns and glitter are the girls' equivalent of the omnipresent truck/dinosaur). How about a nice orange or yellow t-shirt, or purple trainers, or green socks?

“I wouldn't buy wine there.”

Why not?
OH is a wine enthusiast and doesn’t decide not to buy wine because he won’t buy from certain shops. He decides to buy wine that he likes and that has won medals in International Wine Challenge competitions, some of them only stocked in M and S.

“I wish they'd differentiate their collections by age and make each clothing section feel like a different boutique”

God no . I hope they don’t differentiate by age group. They already keep different collections together – Per Una, Classic, Autograph etc. I would far rather they put all the skirts together, all the trousers together etc. I don't want to spend all day looking for trousers dotted all over the shop I am 60, and while I don’t want to look like mutton dressed as lamb, I don’t want to only to buy Per Una and Classic brands

@EllaEllaE We're not saying that 70 year olds shouldn't shop there- just that a 15 year old , 40 year old and 75 year old woman will find different items appealing and none of them want to dress like they are older/younger than they are. Consumers should know where they are likely to find the clothes that are targeted to them instead of the seemingly random way that they do things now. With other clothes shops, there's a definite age range or body shape that they are catering to.

M&S wine is the best thing they sell and I'm a bit sad they're ending the wine club.

"Waists are too large, trouser legs too short (and I'm only 5'3"!!)"

Their average customer is about 60 so this makes sense.

"and none of them want to dress like they are older/younger than they are."

I'm 60. I don't want to look 60!