Marks & Spencer

Joined-up shopping experience keeps the focus on customers

Premium customer experience has always been at the heart of the 130-year history of Marks & Spencer. That means insuring customers never need to retell their story each time they make contact.

But the company’s channels didn’t talk to each other. An omnichannel model serving both digital channels and 1,253 retail outlets was needed. And delivery timescales were incredibly tight. The new contact center had to be fully operational before Marks & Spencer hit their peak Christmas sales period.

The result is an integrated, omnichannel operation that enfolds all areas of the company’s business. All channels are connected—parcels and mail, voice, email, social media, SMS, web chat and web engagement. The service paid for itself after just four months and is now being expanded into a full online sales support tool.

Benefits

  • Better service and contextual customer experience across all channels: voice, email, social media, SMS, web chat, website and even the post room
  • Two-year project involving 30 suppliers completed in just 30 weeks with no interruption to normal service
  • Significant increase in revenue in first four months with web chat

Traditionally, a project of this size, with over 1,000 complex requirements, would take years to accomplish. By choosing the best combination of technology platform and integration partner, we achieved it in record time.

Ian Mahoney, Head of Delivery Services, Marks & Spencer

Challenges

  • Inconsistent online and in-store customer experience
  • Lack of integration and insight into all stages of the customer journey