M&S Has Finally Made Loyalty Feel Like Money Again

Loyalty schemes have spent years overcomplicating something that should be simple. Points that do not quite convert, rewards that arrive too late, systems that feel designed more for the retailer than the customer. Marks & Spencer has stepped away from that model and done something more direct.

The relaunch of Sparks is not dressed up as a complete reinvention, but it is a clear correction. Customers have been consistent in what they want. Not more layers, not more abstraction, but something they can actually use. The move to pounds instead of points is the most obvious change, and also the most effective. It removes the friction. You earn something tangible and you spend it without needing to decode it.

That simplicity carries through the rest of the experience. The digital wallet keeps rewards visible and usable across the business, whether that is food, fashion, or home. There is no sense of restriction or delay. It sits there, ready to be used when it makes sense, which shifts the control back to the customer.

Where the strategy deepens is in how those rewards are delivered. The use of data and AI is not positioned as a feature, but as the system that makes the whole thing relevant. Offers are shaped around behaviour, timing, and context rather than being pushed out in broad strokes. The more it aligns with how people actually shop, the more likely it is to be used.

As CI&T’s Global Director of Retail Strategy & Insights, Melissa Minko puts it, the shift reflects a wider change across retail.

“Consumers' shifting shopping behaviours are forcing retailers to rethink loyalty programmes. In evolving Sparks, M&S is responding to a clear demand for simpler, more tangible value. The move towards 'pounds not points' reflects a broader shift away from complex or abstract rewards, towards something customers can easily understand and use in the moment.

At the same time, the use of AI to personalise those rewards is key. Loyalty rewards must be relevant in order to resonate. Providing the right incentive at the right time, based on previous shopping behaviours and customer knowledge is key. Data-led loyalty models allow retailers to balance customer value with commercial return. This is a clear example of that in practice.”

That balance is where most programmes struggle. Too complex and customers disengage. Too generic and the rewards lose meaning. What M&S has done here is narrow the gap between value and usability, making the system feel immediate rather than distant.

There is also a broader shift underneath it. Retail is moving away from anything that feels unclear or overly engineered. Customers expect transparency now, not as an added benefit, but as part of the offer. This version of Sparks leans into that, not by adding more, but by taking things away.

The real test will be whether people use it without thinking about it. If it becomes part of how they shop rather than something they have to remember.

That is usually when loyalty actually works.