Marks & Spencer announces it has welcomed over 230,000 members to become one of the fastest growing baby clubs in the UK.
The Parent Hood is M&S’ first ever Sparks loyalty club, dedicated to new or soon-to-be parents. As part of the strategy to reshape for growth, M&S has doubled down on its intent to broaden its appeal for families – whether it is becoming a shopping list retailer in the Food business or offering stylish kidswear, with trusted value pricing and hand-me-down quality. As the UK’s most trusted brand, it leveraged its unique business model together with its Sparks loyalty programme – which is now home to over 20 million customers – to bring together the very best of M&S, for families.
Through Sparks, M&S aims to drive deeper loyalty and engagement, whilst also attracting new customers to shop at M&S. Latest insight from M&S reveals that one third of M&S’ first ever loyalty club, The Parent Hood, shopped babywear at M&S for the first time this year. Existing customers also shopped more frequently, with visits up by 50%.
The Parent Hood has now driven over £2 million in incremental value to M&S, with 75% of sales coming through kidswear. This has supported strong market share growth in kidswear, which now sits at its highest level in over 10 years at 6.9% (+0.5% from LY), with significant growth in the baby category (8.8% +2% vs LY).
By signing up to The Parent Hood, members received 10% off all babygrows at M&S for the first 12 months. Since August last year, M&S has sold over one million babygrows with over 45,000 members redeeming the introductory offer, with many doing so more than once. Following the success, M&S will be extending the welcome offer until the child turns two years old, parents will also continue to discover special treats in their Sparks hub as they mark milestones and anniversaries.
In addition to surprise and delight moments, one of the key parts of The Parent Hood was to create a parenting community, within M&S. Over 30,000 members have taken advantage of the weekly Parent & Baby Coffee Mornings held in M&S Café’s across the UK, with stores such as Camberley, Leeds White Rose and Bluewater welcoming on average 50 members each week – with over 78,000 pieces of free cake redeemed.
To mark the anniversary, The Parent Hood members can enjoy a free, full-sized layered sponge cake from the Foodhall and a free Piccolo strawberry and banana brekkie baby pouch from the M&S Cafe for their little ones*. Customers can find their offer in their Sparks hub on the M&S app and can redeem in the Foodhall or Cafe before 30th August.
This month, M&S has also welcomed Olly Murs and Amelia Tank to become the face of The Parent Hood as they get ready to welcome their second child later this summer.
Sharry Cramond, director of loyalty, fashion, home & beauty marketing and Masterbrand, said: “Last year we set out to create the best baby club in the country and in just twelve months, we have exceeded our expectations welcoming thousands of customers – both new and existing, to join our first ever loyalty club through Sparks. As our founding members celebrate their little ones first birthdays, we are delighted to be able to extend the reward proposition, supporting them in the next journey of their Parent Hood.”
Alexandra Dimitriu, director of kidswear at M&S, said: “With a renewed stylish product offer and the introduction of our first baby club, we now hold our highest market share in kidswear in over ten years. We’ve long been known for the hand-me-down quality of our kids clothing but customers are now turning to us at the start of their parenting journey and discovering what we have to offer in baby. Whatever your age or stage, The Parent Hood is here to support families as we continue to broaden our appeal to become more relevant, more often.”
