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.

Agree with everyone else e- ditch the designers. You are never going to attract the millenial teens so dont try. Simple shift dresses - get a design that works and make it in 10 different colours. Do workwear dresses in something other than black and navy.

Get rid of the frills and fancy sleeves and bloody peplum waists!! How many of us want our backside highlighting in frills?!!

I think of M&S clothes and I just think overpriced. I am probably to young to be their target market at 30 but I have a house to run, dc and money to spend so actually, why not.

The only things I have bought there apart from food in the last few years are the dregs of sale stock when it is reasonably priced. In my mind if I can get exactly the same quality products elsewhere on the high st why would I pay 4 x as much? For instance kids plimsolls or non leather shoes, why would I spend £35 when I can get exactly the same style from the same production line in somewhere else for £10?

It isn't even merchandised well to make me want to buy it.

Love the food section and the wine. I don't shop there regularly as I can't get everything I need in one place but there is a food store near me so I have done on occasion. Buy lots at Christmas.

I think their beauty offering is really good, you can get brands that no other high st retailers stock.

Expand the supermarket. Food is lovely. Stick to underwear and kids clothes.

This - I would also maintain homeware and jewellery (I buy a lot of necklaces there). Yes scrap the Sparks card and consider online food ordering and deliveries - there are quite a few occasions I've wished you delivered. I also know a lot of older people buy in Marks (their classic meals for one being a massive hit). We take a couple there to shop but it would be so much easier if it could be delivered rather than them waiting for lifts.

Stop treating Boys as an after thought, their Parents have money to spend on them looking nice just like the girls parents do

^
This

I have DGS and I would love to buy them more clothes from M&S, but I don't want to buy anything with huge motifs, dinosaurs or in sludgy maroon, tan and washed out grey and navy.

Enlarge the preppy style line please!

Get rid of the frills and fancy sleeves and bloody peplum waists!! How many of us want our backside highlighting in frills?!!

Got to say I love a fancy sleeve though but not a backside highlighted in frills - it's so large people might mistake it for a street festival.

too much stuff - badly laid out - it's like they built huge stores then felt they had to fill every bit of them

we have a HUGE M+S new built on one level - it's like a jumble sale in a tunnel - awful wandering round aimlessly looking for things.

I want nice clothes in decent fabrics that FIT - I want to be able to look at work clothes, staples, holiday clothes, exercise gear, undies, shoes, bags - together - not separated by 'label' - Next manage this well!

Yes to petit - again see Next!

The website is awful - just awful - scrolling down jumps from a picture to halfway through the next row so you have to constantly fiddle - the picture are dire and there are no links to OUTFITS so if you see some jeans with a top you then have to search for the jeans - again NEXT !

I rarely go in M+S now it's too baffling - I have the choice right next to it of Next, H+M, River Island, New Look (although they have similar issues), Matalan, Sainsburys, Asda and 10 mins down the road Primark!

M+S used to be my go to for suits - not anymore - and why did they stop making Lemon Verbena bath stuff :(

I’m 60 and don’t buy anything much in their clothing. Too synthetic, too patterned and often over-embellished.

It seems that, going by what we have said on here, they could make a killing by introducing a round neckand a V neck cardigan, In lambs wool in a choice ofsay 12 colours. I could buy three without even blinking. Choice of colours over choice of ‘style’

Ladies tshirts where the seams stay straight.
Like everybody is saying - natural materials. Core wardrobe. No film flam ‘ keeping up with fasion’. A plain cardigan is a plain cardigan.
Bras in big sizes too please.

And HOME DELIVERY ON YOUR FOOD. They need to keep up with their competitors.

Is anybody clever enough to link this thread to M&S twitter ?
I’m going now to sit and think of lovely soft lasting wool cardigans in a range of colours..............

Stop the annoying system of having to book bra fittings in advance. Sell more cotton ones.

Ban polyester, sugar pink and shoes with wood-appearance block heels or a strip of elastic instead of a strap and buckle.

Curvier shaped clothes for those who don't have a "straight up and down" shape.

Add 3 inches to the length of all tops

Stop selling a token few children's toys/books, it's much easier to visit a book shop or toy shop.

Ditch all cartoons, slogans and plastic appliqué from children's wear.

Ditch Sparks.

I actually think "look at uniqlo, do that" is great advice!

I was after some good quality staples for the summer - chino trousers, plain t-shirts, linen shirts. I didn't look at M&S first - I did actually buy chinos in M&S, but only as I spotted them when going getting some food from their supermarket.

Their 'classic' range is old people clothes. really they need to think about doing a proper 'classic' range - good quality staples in a range of colours. If you want a few t-shirts/vest tops or chinos in spring/summer or long sleeved t-shirts or plain wool jumpers in autumn - M&S needs to be the place you think to look first.

You need to know you'll get a decent quality basic, then add 'fun' things as additional things you might pick up when in there.

I'll pay for wool and cashmere and decent thickness t-shirts. I won't think to look in M&S first for these. Similarly, while many men will go in first to look for a reasonably priced, decent quality suit, their woman's office wear isn't anywhere near as reliable.

They are still the "go to" place for a pack of pants or tights for many woman, and their quality is better than the supermarkets, but they are not the "go to" place for other basics.

the stores are big enough to give half over to wardrobe staples, and half to "fun" designs. Unfortunately, they fill the place with the "fun" designs that don't quite hit the high fashion mark, but means you don't bother looking in there for the things you need, and middle aged woman (real middle aged, as in 35-55, not this defination of middle aged being 50-65) are more likely to spend the bulk of their clothing budget on basics, not on the "one season fashion".

Again - Look at uniqlo, think about how their customers used to be your bread and butter in a previous generation.

Organise the store in a different way. When I want a pair of black trousers I want to see all the trousers together. Not a section where they have Per Una trousers and then a section for Autograph clothes and one for Classics (or whatever it's called). I don't want to trek around the store looking for all the different places where black trousers might be.

The website has a very poor search engine. It doesn't find items that I know exist, because I've seen them in the store. I can't find them on the website because my search terms don't seem to bring results. You need a UX guru to sort this out. It's been poor for years!

Some of their furniture is lovely and very good quality however.

I agree about the colours. They need to provide basics in colours that suit women of every season. Just selling a beautiful linen jacket in lime green and Stabilo highlighter yellow in spring is a pointless waste. They need to be available in navy, red, black etc as well.

So many times I have seen a style I really like and then the only colours they are available in are utterly shit.

They need to make their sizing consistent, not just across ranges, but colours as well. I have read so many reviews of trousers and jeans where people have raved about a pair of black jeans for example, and then said that the blue in the same size is a different fit. This is especially important if they are planning to increase their online presence otherwise their returns will overwhelm them.
As a Sparks card holder I am often sent surveys to complete, but they are asking the wrong questions. It is usually about the website, and have mostly closed questions that require a yes or no answer. It is as if they are afraid of hearing the truth. I am usually pretty free with my opinions in the comments boxes though.

Occasionally they get it right. I bought a lovely striped cotton jumper recently. It looks great, and washes well. Their men’s clothes are good (too short in the arms and legs for OH, but he is taller than average). Their skincare, make up and toiletry ranges are good, and they have a good selection of cruelty free stuff. And the food is great, except for the vegetarian selection which is very poor. Oh, and I bought a fitted sheet from them recently, and it hasn’t shrunk in the wash. I still buy my underwear from there as well. Unlike most mumsnetters I find plenty of choice bra-wise as I am not well endowed.

“Might just be a personal thing but my advice would be, don't make and display the same cardigan / t-shirt / vest in EVERY colour under the sun.”

I don’t agree. That is what I do want. I suit winter colours. In M & S it is very difficult for me to buy clothes in spring and autumn because they don’t have red or navy or white or black – see my point about highlighter pen jackets above.

“Take out the padding in bras,”

But not in the smaller sizes please. I agree with tinytemper66 about shoe sizes. I have seen some lovely sandals, but they are only available in wide. Why?

Most of all:
M & S - LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

The large M and S near me used to have furniture/bedding/dinnerware etc upstairs. During this time we often bought furniture from there because you could sit on sofas to try them out, see room layouts and the quality was always good.
M and S decided a few years back to take away most of the furniture and turn the upstairs into a bank and travel exchange?

No idea why they though this was a good idea, especially when there is a large Next nearby that now probably gets all the home/furniture business that they used to have because in Next they display the furniture that they are trying to sell rather than trying to sell bank services from a retail store.

As for the clothes, I used to come home from EVERY trip to M and S with a bunch of clothes and also buy knickers, socks, nightwear from them. My M and S card was very well used. Gradually over the last 10 years that has all changed. Now the only time I bother to go there is if my husband needs clothes. The clothing is awful, trying way too hard to be trendy and failing miserably. I would like underwear and nightwear made from cotton please, not stretchy man made crap. And some clothes that I want to wear. M and S used to be great for day to day trousers, jeans, t shirts, knitwear etc and available in multiple sizes and lengths. Now I struggle to find one thing I want to buy.

Echoing many others.
● Improve your website
● Improve your bra fitting service and size range
● Womenswear basics, good quality basic dresses, tees etc
● Multipacks of basic knickers all in one colour
● There is big gap for decent boys clothes as they get older, i would to see good quality plain t shirts, striped t shirts, nice jeans/combats in different fits. Ditch the slogan tees.
● Relaunch the sparks card, make it a rewards card where you get say £5 to soend when you get x amout of points plus a birthday treat (even a free bag of Percy Pigs!) at the moment it is confusing with random offers and the points don't equate to anything.

I am probably the classic M&S customer, middle aged, middle class, high disposable income but I hardly ever buy clothes there . On the rare occasions they have something I would like (a down jacket a few weeks ago), they didn't have a single size 14 in any colour. On another occasion I popped into the St Pancras store to buy an emergency pair of black opaque tights - none at all available in a medium size. Surely tights should be a readily available staple in any city store?

like everyone else I want simple basics - jeans, camisoles, long length jumpers and tunics in cotton/linen/silk/cashmere in a choice of lengths and colours.

At the moment I like uniqlo for jeans, jeggings and jumpers (and down jackets), Primark for camisoles and pants, Bravissimo for bras and swimwear and John Lewis and local shops for everything else. It would be so handy if M&S provided a simple, one stop shop for these things.

On the plus side I love the new beauty sections - lots of choice and time to test and browse. And I've just ordered a sandwich platter for the weekend.

Really struggling to remember the last thing I bought from M&S for me or my family. Must be a couple of years. That's sad because I used to buy literally everything there for me, hubby and our son.

I've tried but failed miserably to buy simple T shirts or simple jeans. Buying underwear is a nightmare - I'm still using old bras because I can't get anything that fits or looks good - nearly everything is underwired and coloured/patterned - where are the simple white unwired bras?

Hubby is wearing suits, trousers and shirts for work which must be a decade or more old. We keep looking to buy him a new wardrobe, but most of the tailored shirts are awful colours/patterns. They only have plain ones in multi-packs which are cheap and really weird shapes (the last he tried had arm length right down to his knees - must have been for monkeys!). Suits are either cheap polyester looking (but twice the price of Asda's cheap poly ones!) or again, really weird colours/patterns - they don't have a "normal" charcoal suit in a decent material.

As for our son, they never have his school trousers nor shirts in his size, and he's pretty normal - fairly tall, but still pretty normal, pretty thin, but still pretty normal - they're always out of stock, but there's always plenty of short/fat sizes!

I've thought of something else.

M&S is my staple for school wear for DS but when I went in to buy a few pair of trousers a couple of months ago they had nothing apart from randomly sized skinnies. Clearly not stocking all the lines outside of peak periods - but had they what I was looking for - regular trousers - I would have bought 2 or 3 pairs. They are a big enough shop to be able to stock a decent range of school wear year round I would have thought.

Having said that I am a complete convert to their bust minimizer bra. Half the price of the bras in the specialist place I normally go too and wonderful cut and quality.

Agree that they should stick to quality plain basics in a range of lovely colours. T shirts in good quality cotton with a range of necklines and sleeves lenghts, same for cardis, jumpers (wool, cashmere, and cotton cashmere blend only). Shift dresess and tea dresses. Trousers in various waists and lengths, always in black & navy and then a range of seasonally appropriate colours. Simple jersey or linen blazers and coats. Quality, timeless, lined workwear pieces. Capsule wardrobe stuff basically! Eliminate puce and sludge brown from your colour repertoire. Replace with different shades of pink, blue, green, yellow, red as well as of course black, navy, white, cream and tan.

I actually think "look at uniqlo, do that" is great advice!

They could make a killing! Uniqlo is only available in the South East but M&S have shops throughout the whole of the UK. We are sat here, with wallets wide open. Why are you missing this open goal, M&S?

actually I think they've fallen into the Mothercare trap - trading off a 'heritage' name, trying to provide clothes that are a similar style and quality as the supermarkets and the cheaper, fashionable end of the high street, but want to charge closer to John Lewis/Boden prices. They are cheaper than JL and Boden, but not as cheap as the supermarkets, and the difference isn't there to justify not going to the supermarkets.

Sorry to bang on about Uniqlo, but while the quality of their lambswool and cashmere is not the same as John Lewis, it's a lot cheaper, and more importantly, prices similar to M&S man-made fabric jumpers. If I want to buy a £20 jumper made of crap, I'll go to sainsburys. If I want a wool jumper, I wouldn't think to look in M&S anymore, because they'll have added some sparkle shit or complex sleeves to a basic jumper.

I was very impressed with the chinos and t-shirts this year, become that shop you pop in first when you need a basic bit to add to the fashion stuff that won't last more than a season.

@rookie I have had that problem with uniform too, I went in to buy school shoes for my son but they didn't have any.

I think ladies you have said it all. Ditch the day glow yellow acrylic cardies etc!! Simple styles, good cuts and plain but attractive colours. For Christ’s sake ditch casual menswear , it’s all truly awful for a trendyish 45 to 65 year old guy or bring in someone who has taken a look around All Saints etc. I would bring in a few ‘concessions’ not the usual ones Debenhams have but things like Bravissimo, joe browns etc. Get a bunch of women in from 30 to 60 to actually critique your ranges.

Definitely agree they could make a killing copying Uniqlo but expanding the range of colours and necklines. Uniqlo is a Japanese brand so I find their stuff is always high necked/built for slim people with minimal bust and those with warm skin tones

I really appreciate the on trend of autograph. I wouldnt touch the rest of the clothes.