M and S blames Brexit for fall in sales. What next?

I have also contacted them with 'advice'. One of my gripes is that the classic range tends to be unappealing and cheap looking. How could they have missed the fact that in recent years many 'slightly' older people have spending power, and would buy smarter, quality clothing than the range they offer. They haven't taken my advice on board, nor probably yours either. More fool them.

I too used to be a big M&S fan but no more. They don't seem to appeal to any age group or size. So they need to look at themselves for answers.

They should 're focus on what they used to be good at Well cut good material basics and underwear And put all the trousers together,all the skirts etc
I think the weather does affect spending on summer clothes but not in Jan-March .
I have more than 30summer tops I think I have worn on about 5 occassions so far this year Why would I buy more ?Plus a lot of their current stuff is hořrible

I was very fortunate this week. At their outlet centre clearance section all jeans, jumpers and dresses were £7.
I got 3 pairs of Roma fit (sit at the waist) tapered jeans , 2 shift dresses to wear with leggings or jeggings, (i don't normally do dresses) and a cotton/silk mix long sweater.
Total retail was well over £200.
My good fortune but it's not doing the M ans S income any favours.

Don't blame Brexit - blame the rubbish clothes, terrible colours. Blame tasteless food with no salt etc. Etc. Too soon to blame Brexit - what an asinine thought!

And don't want to drip feed but why is it I cannot buy a lighter weight summer sweater (because of the awful weather) there? Its July 7th for goodness sake .Did get nice one in Laura A sale .It's not just M and S on this one ..
They need to get supply and demand sorted

I very rarely go to M&S now having previously been a regular shopper there. I like to go in and if I want trousers I want to find them all in one place. Now you have to walk all over the store to find the different types in so called different departments by different designers and then likely as not they will not have my size and mostly I walk out frustrated.

From my personal experience M&S would sell more clothes if they actually stocked all the sizes. I have been unable to spend hundreds off pounds there because they never have whatever I want in my size, which is a 14. I despair of the place!

Where is their outlet centre Coolgran? Any where near Leicester? When I worked there (35years ago) Corah made al their underwear and you could pick up some real bargains in the factory shop

I agree with all that is said about M & S, they get it so right with their food hall, but so very wrong with their clothing. I remember when I would buy my basics there e.g. High quality t-shirts White/black/navy/taupe - now they have revolting colours, highly floral designs or dated styles in a much poorer quality. They are still reproducing the same Per Una designs every year.

Where do M & S do their buying and how often do they refresh their buying team?

I also agree, using Brexit as an excuse is ridiculous and us Brits are used to "layering" for our temperamental Summers.

Reading all the comments, I have to say I agree on every point. Stock levels can be abysmal at M&S,, the colours can be teeth clenchingly vile (you know that fluorescent peach colour they do?), they appear to believe that most of the world is size 10 short (no, I am size 12 /14 long,) they seem to think that we slightly more (ahem) mature ladies want to buy hideous trimmed blouses in man made fabrics, or we can go and look at their "younger" ranges that no younger person, or indeed older person, would be seen dead in. They need to concentrate on their core business model which is to produce well made basics and the occasional fabulous must-have. Having shopped for their great, touch of lycra, tops for years, they no longer do them, the underwear is not what it was, the hosiery is expensive, as indeed is most of their other stuff. I don't often bother to go into their stores even when I am walking past.

Having been a staunch m&s supporter/shopper all my adult life, I stopped shopping for clothes with them some years ago when I couldn't get anything to fit. Taking three of the 'same size' garment to try on to try and find one that fit, soon got tiresome and even then you couldn't guarantee that any of the 'same size' you'd taken would fit, so I gave up.
Brexit is the least of their worries. Get some proper sizing, a decent amount of stock and stock what your customer wants, not necessarily what 'fashion' dictates. Where are all those staple items that they used to be so good at? It doesn't cross my mind to shop there now.

I agree with the comments made and am disappointed they no longer cater for good quality classic outfits that don't look frumpy. I was told once when I asked for bigger sizes that I could probably find them on-line as they don't stock them - put me in my place then!

If you want cheap clothes you go to Primark. A friend, a big Marks fan, now goes to Boundary Mill, where they have a lot of bargains. I can recommend Primark's sensible knickers and their reader specs for £2. Only use Marks for food.

Another thing to the lady who can't stand in queues. Why don't you internet shop with M&S? They have one of the best websites online and if you don't want to pay postage, you can pick up for free in store.

I heartily agree with all the previous comments. M&S have lost the plot. They are targeting the wrong age groups and forgetting their loyal core customers. Who wants to purchase dresses and skirts so short they are almost minis? The clothes are either too short (even for me at 5' 2" or trailing on the ground because they are more suited for a person nearly 6ft tall! The quality of clothes has deteriorated, they are poorly produced and the sizing is awful. I also have walked around the store trying to use a M&S club card voucher, but never find anything that appeals, I usually use it on food. Such a shame, I used to buy most of my clothes in M&S a few years ago.

Beammeupscottie
Bluesmum can't stand for long enough in the huge "Returns" queue of disappointed people taking unwanted stuff back!

As someone said, not enough staff at the collection/returns desk either, sometimes the poor assistant is jumping from one side to the other to sort everyone out.

I contacted their live chatline a few weeks ago to complain about the awful, blaring 'music' they play, and the next day it was switched off! Nothing to do with me I know , as it made front page news in the papers, but I was glad to know I wasn't the only one who hated it, and I can at least browse in peace now, even if I can't find anything I like.

Under their previous CEO M & S not only used workfare but promoted it and said that companies that stop using it because of public pressure are cowards. They delayed payment to their suppliers and started copy Tesco for unethical practices.

They are on virtually every boycott list.

Before blaming Brexit (which we all knew would cause a bit of financial upheaval) they should have an ethical audit carried out and look at their stock and marketing.

Their rarely have many sizes of bras and they are a small fit. Their stores are not laid out with any sort of system so if you are in one of the larger ones it takes a lot of walking to find what you want.

They decided they wanted to go younger but it just meant they annoyed their older customers but didn't pick up the younger ones. Stores like Selfridges had the same image at one time so they introduced a Miss Selfridge range but didn't alienate their existing customers.

There stuff is so frumpy.Everytime i go in there i never can find anything in my size.Or anything i like.All there stuff is made in taiwain and looks like it is.Real cheap looking but the money there asking for the tat they sell.

Rubbish. My Christmas m and s pyjamas were were coming loose on the stitching after 2 weeks so I emailed them. Incidentally, they were made in India. About the quality of Primark. They emailed back saying last year they had improved the quality control on 70 percent of their stock. Perhaps they thought that was a good reason for my shoddy pjs. I was going to email back and say, so I would be ok if I buy anything else as long as its not from the 30 percent you haven't quality controlled then. Hmmm!

Ma nd S are blaming a downturn on Brexit fears but sales are down everywhere. The poor weather has been partly responsible but recent research has also pointed out that people are prepared to spend more on experiences than 'stuff ' now. The IKEA boss made that famous remark, recently, about us having reached 'peak stuff' and I think there's something in it.

Couple this with the rise on online shopping and the unpleasant experience of high street browsing with humungous parking charges (£6 for a short duration at Windsor), shabby charity shops and overpriced eateries and you have the 'perfect storm' of shopping drawbacks.

Having said that, there has been nothing I would want to buy in M and S except some underwer items for ages now. And their sizing is a joke.

Lets face it they derserve to fail.For years they have been consistanly bad.Who in bussiness is si arrogsnt that they dont listen to their customers.They are a joke

M & S have gradually going down over the years. In 1939 when they sold nothing over five shillings, I bought a well made dress with my first weeks wages. My son Michael when he was little thought his underpants were specially made for him. In those days all their stock was manufactured in Britain. I only occasionally go into their store nowadays to buy the odd food item but the meat in a steak and kidney pie was hard.