Following Friday’s announcement from the Welsh Government M&S is bringing back its popular Sparks Book & Shop shopping reservation service.

The service will launch on Monday, December 20 at all 23 M& stores in Wales.

Customers are encouraged to book a slot to shop so they don’t have to worry about queuing.

Slots are available to book from now until December 31 with the following exceptions:

  • 18:00 - 22:00 only on 22 and 23 December
  • No slots 24 December

M&S first trialled this service in September 2020, before rolling it out to all UK stores.

The service allows customers to reserve a shopping slot at a time that suits them and avoid having to queue on arrival, should there be one.

The Leader: Book & Shop (M&S)Book & Shop (M&S)

Book & Shop was popular with customers last winter, having facilitated more than 1m individual shopping slots across the UK.

Over the past few months, M&S has received large numbers of requests from customers to bring the service back, despite the reduced need for it given the looser restrictions in place compared to 2020.

Allison, M&S Regional Manager – South Wales said: “We know just how much our customers loved Book & Shop last year – and while we hoped we wouldn’t need it again, we’re absolutely committed to ensuring our stores in Wales are as safe and covid-free as they can be. Christmas is our busiest time of year – and we hope by reintroducing the service, we give our customers that extra bit of confidence when shopping in our stores over the next few weeks.”

How it works

  • Customers visit the Marks & Spencer website and book a slot to shop at a time that suits them. This allows them to avoid having to join the queue on arrival, should there be one.
  • Start times are allocated in 30-minute intervals and upon arrival, customers simply check-in with the friendly hosts at the food entrance of their local store.

Book your slot here.