Marks & Spencer has this week launched its first loyalty card for customers.

The new 'members club', called Sparks, launched nationwide yesterday and offers benefits such as discounts, priority access to collections and invitations to events.

Shoppers can collect 10 "sparks" for every purchase and for every £1 spent, and other amounts each time they engage with the brand, for example earning 25 sparks for posting a review.

The points will have no direct monetary value.

Warrington Guardian:

Instead, members will receive a fortnightly selection of offers and can begin to take advantage of priority access to ranges once they have collected 3,000 sparks or shop for sale items 24 hours before everyone else on reaching 5,000 sparks.

Those able to collect 14,000 points will have access to invitation-only events and master classes, while 17,000 will allow members to enter draws to win "money can't buy" experiences such as a trip to an M&S South African vineyard.

The card will be valid across the retailer's entire offering, including food, fashion, home and beauty.

Reward cards are commonplace among retailers, but the M&S version is a departure from the standard format of earning points simply based on spending.

The M&S credit card, which offers one point for every £1 spent in store and one point for every £2 spent elsewhere, will continue unchanged.

 M&S executive director Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne said: "Over 131 years, customers have built a unique sense of trust and ownership in the brand and a members club is the natural evolution.

"And now is the right time for M&S. Thanks to our infrastructure investment and the breadth and depth of our product offer, we can deliver a club that sees us collaborate with our members to build a better M&S together."