Fintech | Retatil | B2C

Agency: Obodo

Location: London, UK

Services: Acquisition Strategy | UX Strategy | Innovation Workshop | User Research

Tools: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite

M&S Bank, a joint venture with HSBC, sought to improve the conversion rate of its credit card product on the M&S retail website. Despite existing promotional efforts, the credit card was underperforming in customer acquisition. I was brought in to evaluate the current strategy, align cross-functional teams, and develop an acquisition plan that integrates with the broader marketing approach to drive commercial success.

Dated strategy and lack of UX input, leading to ineffective experiments and a slow learning process.

Unique product positioning disrupting agile workflows due to its dual identity—branded as M&S Bank but promoted under M&S Retail.

Operational misalignment between product, marketing, and approval teams, resulting in long approval cycles and unclear performance metrics.

Product branding confusion, causing difficulties in positioning the credit card within M&S’s financial ecosystem.

Competitive digital real estate, as M&S retail’s promotional space was shared with multiple products, limiting visibility.

With these internal and external pressures, a new strategic approach was necessary to improve acquisition efficiency.

Through workshops, research, and UX-driven insights, we developed a refined acquisition strategy that aligned marketing efforts with product positioning. The Innovation Workshop fostered collaboration between teams, resolving operational misalignment and streamlining decision-making. The credit card’s positioning within the M&S loyalty ladder ecosystem was strengthened, enabling better cross-selling opportunities. The landing page audit provided key performance insights, shaping future digital acquisition efforts. Finally, the Q2 Strategy & Delivery Plan established a clear, data-backed roadmap for ongoing optimisation.

To ensure a data-driven approach, we conducted in-depth research to identify key inefficiencies and opportunities in M&S Bank’s credit card acquisition process. We mapped existing workflows between M&S Bank, M&S Retail, and HSBC to uncover approval bottlenecks and misaligned marketing execution. Customer segmentation analysis revealed two core audiences—existing M&S retail customers, who had a higher likelihood of conversion, and non-M&S customers, who required stronger incentives. Additionally, we assessed the credit card’s positioning within M&S’s broader loyalty ecosystem, identifying brand perception challenges caused by confusion between M&S Bank and M&S Retail. These insights informed a more targeted acquisition strategy, ensuring alignment with customer needs and business goals.

Given the M&S credit card’s dual positioning—as a financial product regulated by HSBC and a key part of the M&S loyalty ecosystem—an innovation workshop was held to align teams and create a strategy that was practical, commercially viable, and customer-focused. Day 1: Team Alignment Key stakeholders from product, marketing, and commercial teams outlined objectives, concerns, and constraints. This ensured a shared understanding of roadblocks in the acquisition process and set the foundation for a unified strategy. Day 2: Defining Long-Term Goals Discussions explored the credit card’s role within the wider M&S ecosystem, both digitally and in-store. Teams considered customer engagement, cross-selling opportunities, and integrations beyond M&S to position the card as a seamless extension of the loyalty programme. Day 3: Prioritising Acquisition Channels Insights from the previous sessions were refined into actionable touchpoints. Digital and physical acquisition channels were evaluated, with priority given to those with the greatest impact on conversion. The session concluded with a roadmap outlining key implementation steps.

We assessed the conversion metrics and performance trends from 2021/22 to 2022/23 to identify key areas for optimisation. The goal was to restructure the landing page to reflect the new acquisition strategy, with a particular focus on clarifying the relationship between the credit card and other M&S financial products. This involved refining the content hierarchy, messaging, and call-to-actions to ensure a seamless user journey that aligned with the broader M&S loyalty ecosystem.

Assessed conversion metrics and performance trends (2021/22 vs. 2022/23) to uncover areas for optimisation.