Marks & Spencer’s first half results highlighted what a job Belinda Earl et al have ahead of them.

Although general merchandise like-for-likes showed some improvement in its second quarter, declining 1.8% against a 6.8% plunge in its first quarter, figures were flattered by big ticket items such as coats soaring due to the cold snap in late summer.

There is still much to do to make M&S’s product must-have again.  “Everything that it’s doing in-store and with its systems is great and all but it’s to no avail if no-one wants to buy its product,” says Verdict practice leader Maureen Hinton.

The retailer clearly realises this is an issue. It’s new multi-million pound advertising campaign has done away with the mismatch of celebrities it has focused on for so long and instead puts its product in the spotlight.

Hinton says Earl should focus on clearly segmenting its brands. The retailer’s fashion offer seems to have gradually grown older and now a high percentage of its audience are over 65. That is worrying, especially as competitors such as Zara have started to attract an older audience while maintaining its stronghold with its younger customer base.

By clearly segmenting its many brands, M&S could woo younger audiences back.

Some changes also need to be made in store. Hinton believes that the store layout is confusing to customers. Anyone who has spent half an hour wandering aimlessly around the retailer’s Marble Arch flagship searching for a coat that is not meant for your granny will testify that this is an issue.

Marks & Spencer is effectively a department store and it needs to mark out its brands in-store as well as the likes of Debenhams.

“People are time poor and don’t have time to wander around stores, clearly segmenting their brands will do the editing for customers,” says Hinton.

Some work has already been done to improve performance by the new M&S GM team and the merchandising blip in the first quarter, where its buying team did not buy enough of the big sellers, seems to have been rectified. Empowering its buyers and allowing them to be bold enough to make trend decisions is a big move.

Its new fashion team also looks strong and it inspires confidence that Frances Russell, who takes over womenswear, the category which requires the most work, was previously in charge of M&S’ strongest product area, lingerie.

However, worryingly the changes the new team are working on won’t be seen in-store until autumn next year. Hinton says that is a sign of the culture of M&S and that it should be able to react to the market with more speed.

With shoppers more promiscous than ever, M&S needs quick and decisive action to stop its customers falling out of love with it.