UK’s M&S acquires Thread to boost personalised shopping experiences


Major British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has acquired personalised marketplace Thread IP, including its technology and data, in a bid to boost personalised shopping experiences for its customers. The company expects that personalisation will generate more than £100 million of annualised incremental revenue for the business.

The personalisation capabilities will stretch across all clothing products available on M&S’ online website, including the retailers third-party brand partners which complement and enhance the core offer at M&S, according to a press release.

Major British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has acquired personalised marketplace Thread IP, including its technology and data, in a bid to boost personalised shopping experiences for its customers. The company expects that personalisation will generate more than £100 million of annualised incremental revenue for the business.

This acquisition reflects a ‘buy not build’ approach, enabling the retailer to move quicker in its personalisation strategy, integrating the tech in under 12 months versus a likely three-year build timeframe. Following the administration of Thread, M&S is hiring 30 of its former data scientists, software engineers, and styling and creative teams who will lead the integration and form a new personalised discovery team, within the company’s data and digital function. This includes Kieran O’Neil and Ben Phillips, who founded Thread in 2012.

In recent years, M&S has generated substantial value through its customer data, personalising offers and language and providing repeat purchase and product recommendations, with 20–25 per cent of all digital interactions anticipated to be personalised this year. Outfit recommendations have proved particularly valuable; the ‘frequently bought together’ recommendations are estimated to be worth an incremental £20 million of revenue over the last 12 months

“The acquisition of Thread is the perfect example of a ‘buy not build’ approach – enabling us to accelerate our personalisation strategy by integrating the market leading tech on M&S.com in under 12 months. We’re taking personalisation to the next level to inspire our customers with tailored outfit inspiration,” said Katie Bickerstaffe, Co-CEO, Marks & Spencer.

“We have worked for the past 10 years on building the most advanced AI personalisation for online fashion, proven to increase customer conversion and repeat orders. We’re so excited to join forces with M&S; through their infrastructure and support, we’re able to take our market leading technology to the next level, providing a personalised and unique shopping experience for their 30 million customers,” said Kieran O’Neill, CEO and co-founder of Thread.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)




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