UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has partnered with London-based data science company Starcount to improve its insights and gain a better customer understanding.

The partnership is reported to be part of M&S’ five-year transformation plan.

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M&S brand and customer marketing director Rob Weston said: “I am really looking forward to working with Starcount in my new role. Sparks plays a huge part in helping with our transformation and having the best partners will enable us to focus on achieving a seamless experience for our customers.”

“We are delighted to be working with M&S and partnering with them on predicting their customers’ wants and needs.”

Under the new partnership, Starcount will focus on personalisation of M&S’ loyalty and CRM programmes, including M&S Sparks Card.

Sparks currently has more than six million members and is expected to serve as a key tool for customer insight and engagement.

Using this data, Starcount intends to co-relate customer passions in order to predict their future buying patterns and help M&S in becoming a digital-first retailer.

Starcount CEO Edwina Dunn said: “We are delighted to be working with M&S and partnering with them on predicting their customers’ wants and needs.

“Starcount’s expertise is the science of purchase and intent, understanding the ‘why’ behind M&S customer purchases to help deliver growth, profitability as well as a seamless customer experience.”