Marks and Spencer : M&S ACQUIRES THREAD IP TO ACCELERATE ITS PERSONALISATION PLANS

Today (Wednesday 30 November), Marks & Spencer has acquired the intellectual property, including the source code and algorithms developed by personalised fashion marketplace, Thread.

Over the last three years, M&S has invested substantially in developing its digital and data capabilities to offer an omnichannel service to our customers. The acquisition provides the opportunity to integrate the cutting-edge, proprietary tech into the M&S.com platform to accelerate personalisation and deliver a unique customer experience. The personalisation capabilities will stretch across all Clothing products available on M&S.com, including the retailers third-party brand partners which complement and enhance the core offer at M&S.

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% 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 £20m of revenue over the last 12 months. and M&S anticipate that personalisation will generate more than £100m of annualised incremental revenue for the business.

As M&S reshapes for growth, 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 & creative teams who will lead the integration and form a new personalised discovery team, within our data and digital function. This includes Kieran O'Neil and Ben Phillips, who founded Thread in 2012.

Katie Bickerstaffe, Co-CEO, Marks & Spencer commented: "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.

"We have been working hard to deliver better, more stylish ranges and this algorithm will also put more of our great product in front of the customer, whilst further unlocking the potential of our third-party brand strategy, by adding outfit completing product ideas

"We already know the incremental value personalisation can bring and we anticipate that personalisation will generate more than £100m of annualised incremental revenue for the business."

Kieran O'Neill, CEO and Co-Founder of Thread commented:

"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."

Kieran joins M&S in December as Senior Head of Product.

30 Nov 20222022Clothing, Home & BeautyDigital & Data