Hot on the heels of the recent announcement that the retail chain is creating an academy to offer data science training to staff, Marks and Spencer are to replace 100 call centre employees with chatbot technology designed to answer customer complaints more efficiently.

The company is said to be using software from software providers Twilio and Google to answer queries and route calls faster. Previously the human operators would transfer callers to the right departments, but Twilio claims the new technology correctly identifies 90% of queries and can direct a call within seconds.

The new technology will be used in all 640 M&S UK stores by the end of September, as well as its 13 UK call centres. No jobs have been lost in the change according to the company, and the 100 displaced staff will now be reassigned to in-store customer facing roles – although bizarrely the retailer plans to shut over 100 retail outlets by 2022 meaning those jobs may not be as safe as they seem.

Chris McGrath, IT programme manager at M&S, said “We know that M&S needs to modernise.

“Twilio’s flexible cloud communications platform has enabled Marks & Spencer to experiment like a startup, while executing like an enterprise.

“We were able to prototype a solution in just four weeks and put it to the test during our busiest retail days of the year. The new solution has given Marks & Spencer an improved ability to have more direct and meaningful conversations with our customers, which also helps us reallocate valuable staff time. We’re excited to see where the platform takes us as we continue the roll out across our contact centres.”

Customer Communication for a Digital Age