Marks & Spencer has announced the launch of a new baby club for Sparks loyalty members in a bid to boost its kidswear market share.

Mother holding happy baby

Source: Marks & Spencer

The club includes benefits such as a 10% discount on the retailer’s full range of baby grows for 12 months

The new baby club, called ‘The Parent Hood’, will be available exclusively for members of the M&S loyalty programme to join.

M&S said the new club comes as part of its intention to double down on “broadening its appeal for families” and bring together “the very best of M&S” for its customers.

The club is free to join and offers members the opportunity to save up to £250 every year.

M&S said the club marks an opportunity for the business to “foster a community” and acquire new and existing family customers to boost both the frequency of shopping, as well as bolster cross-category purchasing.

M&S said it has invested in its differentiation and personalisation for members to tailor for both parents and babies, offering things from birthing bag essentials and bras to weaning recipes and activities.

A range of brands are available as part of the club including the likes of Mamas & Papas, which is part of the Brands at M&S platform.

Members joining the club can also expect to receive a 10% discount on the retailer’s full range of baby grows for 12 months and personalised offers across clothing and homewares.

M&S Cafes will be included with regular parent and baby meetups arranged in participating cafes as well as members benefiting from a free slice of cake with the purchase of a hot drink weekly.

M&S director of kidswear Alexandra Dimitriu said: “Our customers trust us for the hand-me-down quality of our kids clothing and with our growing style credentials and a presence in so many communities, there is so much opportunity to grow our market share through appealing to new customers and introducing existing customers to more of what we have to offer.

“As a mum, I’m incredibly excited to be launching M&S’ first baby club - the proposition we’ve created by remaining laser-focused on what baby – and parents - need, when they need it, is something I wish I had access to when I was a member of the 2am club.”

M&S director of loyalty, food marketing and master brand Sharry Cramond added: “The M&S baby club is the first of our special interest clubs for Sparks members, and we have big ambitions to make it the very best baby club in the country by bringing together the very best of M&S – from food, to clothing, to our cafes – and be a one-stop shop for the UK’s incredible community of parents.”

M&S sells more than 1.1 million baby grows every year and the UK baby clothing market for ages zero to two is worth almost £900m annually, according to Kantar’s most recent data.