London – Marks & Spencer is ready to embrace its core, female customer, a
group CEO Steve Rowe named “Mrs M&S” during a press conference held on
Wednesday, as one of the key drivers of his new strategy to transform the
retailer’s clothing and home division.
Rowe stressed that one of M&S top priorities was to ensure their clothing
business starts to grow once more and recover its lost market share. The
retailer, which has struggled over the years to sell its clothing, has seen
its share of the UK clothing market drop from 10.5 percent in 2010 to 8.7
percent in 2015. In order to tackle its clothing crisis, Rowe outlined a
series of changes to take place, which will see the high street retailer
focus on the needs of its core customer, cut products ranges as well as
price and improve its all around store experience.
Whilst the changes Rowe announced, which included cutting the clothing
product range by 10 percent and decreasing the price of up to a third of
its clothing to ensure better accessibility, were well received, his
description of Marks & Spencer main shopper as “Mrs M&S” drew a mixed bag
of reactions. Describing her as a woman in her 50s, who on average 18 times
a year at M&S, Rowe stressed the retailer’s need to “cherish and celebrate
her and make sure we’re giving her exactly what she needs at the right
time.” He added that this woman wants wearable, “stylish, contemporary
clothing,” which both fits and flatters them.
However, his catchphrase does not seem to sit well with his intended
audience, or other UK customers, who took to social media to venture their
thoughts.
Oh
my days! How do we start explaining to Marks and Spencer’s marketing to
“Mrs M&S” is disastrous? Gendered, old fashioned,
exclusionary.— Snigdha (@snigskitchen) May 25,
2016
Basic problem with M&S’s renewed pursuit of Mrs M&S
is who the hell wants to be Mrs M&S.— Lucy Wainwright
(@Whoozley) May
25, 2016
Exclusive: The new Mrs M&S
pic.twitter.com/FCerZItBEU— emma jacobs (@emmavj) May 25,
2016
CEO
@marksandspencer talked
about ‘Mrs M& S’ – a seriously out of date male trying to
market clothes for women— Jessika Jenvieve (@jessikajenvieve) May
25, 2016
Mrs
M&S? @marksandspencer
Makes me feel old (straight and married) just thinking about it. Would
rather shop elsewhere than be THAT!— AngeliaWilson
(@AngeliaWilson89) May 26,
2016
Bloody hell @marksandspencer
you’ve totally lost the plot. Mrs m&s has gone to John Lewis where
she’s treated like a person not a stereotype— Lexxity
(@Lexxity) May
25, 2016
Other customers left similar reviews on M&S Facebook page, questioning
Rowe’s new approach for M&S as well as its labelling of customers.
Although Rowe aims to focus on creating a clothing division which is set to
offer the wardrobe essentials for women, whilst boosting the availability
of product in store, he also acknowledges that 42 percent of M&S’s 32
million customers are men, with 22 percent of under the age of 35, noting
that “they’re not all women and they’re not all older.” So the retailer
will be tapping into the customer insights and data to transform its store
experience for all customers. In order to make it easier for shoppers to
locate the items they want in store, M&S will change its layout from 70
percent coordinated clothing, to 40 percent, to a clearer in store overview
In addition to cutting prices to make their clothing range more accessible,
M&S also aims to improve the overall store experience by increasing the
number of staff on the shop floors and investing in their training. Focus
will be placed on improving key areas such as the fitting rooms, cafes and
toilets as well, as “these are the things that matter to our customers,”
according to Rowe.
Analysts welcomed Rowe turnaround plan for M&S clothing and home division,
with Honor Westnedge, lead analyst at Verdict Retail commenting: “We
welcome the announcement that Rowe is willing to take a short term hit on
profitability in an effort to restore turnover growth, an essential action,
which his predecessor was unprepared to implement.” “Investment in price,
product quality, availability and customer service is a message we have
heard before from M&S, but the sacrifice of profitability signals a
stronger commitment this time round.”
Interestingly, Rowe’s commitment to focus M&S clothing offering on its core
clientele, comes shortly after the retailer unveiled its highly anticipated
fashion co-collection with model and tv personality Alexa Chung. Known for
her unique and fashionable look, the 32 year old presented used
M&S archives as a point of inspiration for the collection, which offers a
mix of heritage designs, with a modern twist. By focusing on one group of
customers, over another, Marks & Spencer could risk alienating young
consumers, which according to a number of Tweets published, is exactly what
is happening.
‘Mrs M&S’ is so cringey it makes my skin crawl. Erm,
hello? Unmarried women of 20 are also loyal fans of cotton rich petite
black jeggings— Helen Thomas (@HelenThomasCPH) May 25,
2016
Sigh @marksandspencer
MRS M&S exemplifies the problem – think of MS M&S and you’ll
get closer to the solution #fashionforwomentoday—
Danielle Zezulinski (@dazezuli) May 26,
2016
Mrs
M&S? Someone didn’t talk to PR before their interview! #mrsmands #sexism #outdated @marksandspencer pic.twitter.com/FzxjNuD88i— Adora
Belle (@MrsAdoraBelle) May 26,
2016
Photos: M&S, Facebook