Marks & Spencer chair Archie Norman has said that the group “wants to be the most personalised retailer in Britain” as it ramps up tech and IT improvements.
Norman, who has been integral to M&S’ turnaround, said that across food, clothing and home, it wants to be focused on personalisation and enhance its reward scheme, Sparks.
Speaking at the Retail Technology Show, Norman said: “We want to be the most personalised retailer in Britain. We’re trying to make Sparks as a way to talk to people as individuals so we understand what you shop for and what you like.
“We don’t want to talk to you about things that are not relevant to you.”
He candidly admitted that he is a “loyalty card sceptic” as many offer “pseudo promotions”. He added that he doesn’t believe in differential pricing, and wants everyone to come to M&S and receive the same value and price as everyone else.
To get the retailer’s personalisation to an even higher standard, Norman said M&S is likely to spend “well north” of £200m next year as it upgrades its legacy systems, adding new data, new applications and checkout systems.
“We don’t want to be left behind,” he said. “Today, customer data is not very powerful for us, but tomorrow it’ll be the way we talk to people.”
He believes other retailers are likely to spend similar money on improving their IT offering, but understands it is one of the most challenging times in retail.
“Headwinds now on costs and national insurance are the greatest they’ve ever been,” he said.
“It’s the nature of the business to be on the front line and constantly driving forward.”
Ocado venture
Norman also spoke of the joint venture with Ocado, dubbed Ocado Retail, which has been ongoing since 2019.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” he said.
“Joint ventures are hard work but Ocado Retail is fast growing and nearly a third of their sales are M&S products.”
He adds that he has known Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner for 25 years, and commended him for what he has built today.
He did, however, comment on the online-only food retailers and groups, adding “nobody is making true profit from food online,” citing the fall of Getir and Gorillas in the UK.
On Ocado, he says shareholders don’t think there is a lot of value in it. Norman, on the other hand, thinks differently.
“I think it’ll be worth a lot of money and will deliver a better food business. My question is when are we going to make a profit.”
M&S is expected to release its full-year results in May.
No comments yet