< Key Hightlight >

Marks and Spencer Group plc (M&S) is a retailer of a wide range of apparel, home products, and food items. Its product portfolio consists of womenswear, menswear, kids wear, lingerie, cosmetics, footwear, home furnishings, wine, and food. The company markets its products through a network of own and franchise stores. The company through M&S Bank offers a range of financial services, including current account and savings, credit cards, mortgages and insurance and through M&S Energy provides fully renewable energy services. It also sells its products online through regionalized e-commerce sites.

M&S, in accordance with its five-year transformation plan, launched a Technology Transformation Programme worth £25 million designed to enable the company to transform into a digital-first retailer and improve customer experience.

M&S has migrated its workloads to Microsoft Azure-based data platform with Azure Synapse Analytics for analytics, storage, and scalability. Leveraging Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Databricks, and Azure Synapse, M&S’s data scientists are now able to extract and transform data and analyze them by creating dashboards and visualizations.

The report provides information and insights into Marks and Spencer's tech activities, including – 

– Insights of its digital transformation strategies and accelerator programs & innovation centers 

– Overview of technology initiatives covering partnerships, product launches, investments and acquisitions 

– Insights on each technology initiative including technology theme, objective, and benefits 

– Details of estimated ICT budgets and major ICT contracts

Scope

– In response to COVID-19, M&S expanded its online clothing platform for food deliveries and launched quick solutions including, online food box deliveries. It also partnered temporarily with Deliveroo for the delivery of home essentials. 

– In March 2021, M&S joined with FutureDotNow to enhance its employees' digital skills and capabilities across the organization, irrespective of their roles. 

– In December 2020, M&S launched Data Technician Apprenticeship, a level three data apprenticeship to equip its employees with data and digital capabilities to boost its digital transformation. Through the Data Technician course, M&S empowers its employees with data skills such as managing and scrutinizing data and converting data into actionable insights. 

– M&S invested in Texel, a 3D digital fit technology company that uses 3D scanning technology to create digital avatars of customers. The investment is a part of the company’s joint venture with the accelerator Founders Factory. 

– M&S acquired 50% of Ocado, an online grocery retailer. The 50/50 joint venture allows M&S to offer its customers with online grocery delivery service, while Ocado shoppers can shop for more than 6,500 M&S food products via Ocado.com.

Reasons to buy

– Gain insights into Marks and Spencer's tech operations. 

– Gain insights into its tech strategies and innovation initiatives. 

– Gain insights into its technology themes under focus. 

– Gain insights into various product launches, partnerships, investments and acquisition strategies.

Companies mentioned

Tata Consultancy Services 

Deliveroo 

Microsoft 

Decoded 

RELEX Solutions 

TransPerfect GlobalLink 

Insider 

Syte 

Twilio 

DVELP 

Namogoo 

Starcount 

Cloudera 

TIBCO 

Ingenico 

TAB 

Signify 

Redblack Software 

SureCloud 

Infarm 

Hermes 

Nielsen Brandbank 

First Insight 

Optitex 

Quill 

Lazada 

Zalora 

Happy Fresh 

foodpanda 

Doodle 

Intelligent Reach 

JDA 

True 

Zetes 

Captiva 

Texel 

Ocado