M&S Sparks: how does it work?

Everything you need to know about the Marks and Spencer loyalty scheme

When shopping at Marks and Spencer, the automated checkout will tell you to scan your Sparks Card, so you feel like you may be missing out if you don’t have this loyalty card. 

But is Sparks worth having and what benefits does it actually give you? Here’s everything you need to know to make the Sparks card work for you.

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What is the Marks and Spencer Sparks card?

Sparks is the M&S loyalty scheme and although very different from the likes of Clubcard and Nectar, in that you don’t collect points, it still gives you a number of benefits.

How to get an M&S Sparks Card

You can join up on the M&S app or their website. If you have an existing physical card, you can continue to use it but any new members won’t receive one and will need to use a digital card online or on the M&S app.

What offers does the Sparks card give?

Sparks is most well known for their weekly shopping giveaway so it’s worth scanning your card every time you shop, and although you won’t collect points, there are lots of other benefits.

Welcome offers

New Sparks members may receive welcome offers when you first register. These can change, but two we’re aware of at the time of writing are:

• £5 off Food when you spend £40 on food and flowers in-store
• 10% off clothing, beauty and homeware, in-store and online

Win your shopping

Each week, one Sparks customer in each store and one online, will win their shopping for free when they scan their Sparks at the checkout. The winner is randomly drawn and will be notified at the time of their purchase.

Money saving offers

You’ll get personalised offers which you can view in your account or on the app and it really seems to be hit or miss when these appear, although each one usually lasts a couple of weeks.

Offers differ by individual since they are supposedly tailored to your shopping and will include discounts such as 20% off womens jeans, 20% off kids shoes, save 15% when you spend £10 on fresh meat and such like. 

Currently I don’t have any which is rare but you will find times where there is nothing, then all of a sudden you’ll get about six at once.

Free gifts

Randomly throughout the year, free gifts are added to your Sparks rewards. These free gifts differ from person to person. I’ve received Percy Pigs, several loaves of bread, a fresh bakery item and a chocolate bar, but I have heard of others getting candles, boxes of chocolates and even a bottle of bucks fizz!

Some individuals receive a birthday treat, so if you’re not a frequent shopper, it’s worth checking your offers when it’s that special time of year.

But be prepared to get very few, if any, of these, as frequency can depend on how much you shop at M&S.

Free coffee

Okay, it’s not quite Waitrose, but you will get a free hot drink once you have collected six stamps. You’ll receive one stamp for every hot drink purchased when you scan your Sparks card in their cafes and vending machines.

The stamps are automatically applied to your Sparks card, so you don’t have to remember to scan or collect anything else.

Prize draws

Sparks card holders have access to exclusive prize draws now again. You can enter in the app or in your account online.

M&S Delivery Pass

This is being trialled with a limited number of Sparks customers, but we’ll let you know if and when this is rolled out, as it could save you money with the cost of delivery.

Sparks Days Out

Spend £35 or more on M&S clothing, home and beauty, in store or online, in a single transaction and you’ll have access to the Sparks Days Out platform for 3 months, where you can save in a similar way to Kids Pass. In fact, it’s actually ‘powered’ by Kids Pass. There’s lots of offers for days out with discounted tickets such as up to 25% off theme parks and up to 30% off zoos and safari parks.

Once you’ve spent £35, you’ll be sent an access code which lets you into the Days Out website where you’ll have access to all the offers.

Schwop and save

Place your unwanted clothes in one of their Shwop boxes to be resold, reused or recycled and in return, Sparks Card holders will get a treat or discount added to their account when you scan the code at the top of the Schwop box. We’ve covered this and other schemes to benefit from donating old clothes.

A donation to charity every time you shop

Marks and Spencer will donate 1p for every transaction you make so remember to scan your Sparks card. You can choose your preferred charity too.

Other Sparks benefits

Access your digital receipts

Sparks card holders can find their digital receipts in their account, you can also opt out of receiving paper ones. This is very handy if you want to return something as those paper receipts tend to go walkabouts all too often. 

Use your phone to Scan & Shop

This really is a time saver, as there’s no queuing up at the tills waiting to pay. Sparks card holders can use the Marks and Spencer app to scan their shopping and bag it up as they go and then pay from the app using a credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.

There is a maximum limit of £45 but if you go over this, you can scan a code on the self checkout tills to transfer your shopping over, so there’s no need to scan everything again.

How to access M&S Sparks offers

You can view all your current offers in your account (either online or on the app) when you click on your Sparks card. There’s two tabs, one for offers you’ve already added to your card and one for new offers which you will need to activate in order to use them.

Physical vouchers, such as those from till points, are no longer distributed.

Where to use M&S Sparks

Your Sparks card can be used in M&S shops and cafes and online. It cannot be used in BP connect shops, at Ocado or in M&S outlets. Also, it won’t work at any M&S shops outside of the UK and Ireland.

Is a Marks and Spencer Sparks card worth it?

Although you can’t collect points, it’s still a loyalty card worth having in case you get a decent offer.

You can’t predict what’s coming, but you do often get repeats of the same offer. For example, I’ll wait until I have a 20% off jeans offer before I buy mine, as it seems to be one that often repeats itself for me. 

And the free gifts are a welcome treat and although they’re only an occasional thing, keep an eye on your offers as you never know when there’s going to be one waiting for you.

I haven’t tried it myself yet, but I will definitely take advantage of the Scan and Shop feature, especially if I hit the lunchtime rush.

And lastly, it’s free to join, so why wouldn’t you? I mean, who can say no to a free bag of Percy Pigs?