Have you ever wondered when we get customers involved to tell us what they think of our products? We don’t wait until they’re on the rails. Alexis works in our buying team for women’s jeans and trousers, and in this post she tells us more about the focus groups we run when we develop our new ranges.

We pride ourselves on the work we do to ensure that the product we offer fits with what our customers are looking for. Every season we carry out a focus group, where we invite a variety of customers from different age groups to come in to our office and review our ranges in progress. We feel it’s really important to get an idea of what you, our customers, like while we’re building the collections so that if there’s anything that you don’t like or think we’ve missed, we can try and put it into work.

We ask our group of normally about 30 customers, to bring in their favourite pair of jeans or casual trousers and tell us why they love them. We talk through the range to the group and then everyone is given tokens – red, yellow and green – so when viewing the range they can say whether they love, hate or MUST buy a particular item. We then have a discussion about the range and ask the customers to share their opinions on the styling, fabric, colour, fit and price.

This is always a very productive afternoon for both our panel and the team. It gives the customers an opportunity to share their thoughts and often helps us to tackle any concerns about the range early on.

Another bonus is it gives us an opportunity to show off our full range, as often customers don’t realise the vast number of products on offer or know about some of our exciting innovations. It can also help the women discover a new style they hadn’t tried before. For example, a lot of the ladies hadn’t considered purchasing our jeggings, particularly the ones in colour, but by the end of the session they were desperate to go and buy a pair!

- Shop all jeans or shop all trousers and chinos.

Here are a few favourites and some feedback the ladies from our last customer panel gave us:

Left to right: Denim 5 Pocket Jeggings, Skinny Floral Denim Jeans, Slim Bootcut Denim Jeans. 

“I am really excited about the colour and cannot wait to get some red trousers” 

“The team are so passionate about their products I can’t wait to see some of the new colours in our Kingston store. Best wishes, Ann.”

“I loved the flowered trousers that reminded me of a gorgeous pair I had in the 80’s. Thanks, Gill.”

“I found the Casual Bottoms panel very interesting yesterday, I really liked the colours for autumn this year, giving more choice than the usual range.”

“I was also very interested to hear how it was possible for Marks to retain their colour in garments throughout constant washing, so many clothes purchased from outlets now look so shabby after a few washes, so well done Marks.”  

“Tricia and I took the bus into Oxford Circus when we left and spent another hour and a half in Marks and spencer! I purchased a pair of Slim Boot jeans with a very nice detail on the back pockets, they feel very comfortable and having worn them all day today they have kept their  shape beautifully.”

“Loved the ‘coated’ black trousers and cannot wait to get some.”

To say thank you to our customers, we give them some vouchers and flowers, and of course we take on board everything they say to deliver them the range that hopefully you all will love too!

Have you tried our coloured jeggings? What style of trousers and jeans do you love best? Let us know by leaving a comment below.