If you go into high street coffee bars in the UK, you will notice consumers have changed dramatically over the past 10 years. They are cosmopolitan and individualistic people who differentiate to a remarkable degree about how they meet their wants and needs. They are experts in identifying value-for-money propositions on the high street.
Gone are the days when consumers aspired to afford the superior quality of Marks & Spencer's foods, and when every woman wore only M&S underwear under their similar outfits. Today, their underwear is just as likely to be La Senza, a Next or an M&S basic, or a £4 garment from Tesco or Asda.
More importantly, it is likely to be all of these at different times, because the consumer now buys an eclectic range of products to meet different needs for quality and price. Today's most successful retailers have identified the broad range of consumer needs as needs for 'good, better and best'.
If you want to get back to satisfying your customers so they come back for more, you need to implement your own version of 'good, better and best', under a revitalised brand that resonates with the consumer.
This will mean consciously differentiating food and clothing into a basic, but cheap option (good); a better quality and slightly more expensive range (better); and a premium range for special purchases (best). In this way, you will begin to make M&S a symbol of reliable value for money once again.
There is more. Single brand buying is no longer enough. Consumers want to choose a Per Una outfit, but also have the choice of a Ralph Lauren, or this month's trendy lable. M&S will have to do more than create is own sub-brands: it will have to consider offering concessions to branded lables. I know this would be sacrilege to M&S, but now is the time to be bold.
This will change the economic model of M&S and requires a mindset shift by staff. However, think of it as creating a store portfolio with the best of M&S and other leading stores in one package. With Vittorio Radice and his expertise from Selfridges on board you have a great resource to do exactly that. Think of the impact this will have on consumers.
Retailers can no longer be one thing to all consumers; you must now be many things to all consumers. Sourcing, ranging and efficient store operations are important. None of these are worth much if you aren't satisfying the customer's needs.
Philip Green may want M&S, but it would be a great shame if M&S became just another value high street brand in the BHS portfolio. It deserves more. You can make it much more, but only if you have the courage to boldly take the fight to the high street and win back customers. Best of luck
Dr Mark Dorgan
Member of the Management Group at PA Consulting Group.
