Case Study | How Kiosk Voting enhanced Marks & Spencer AGM experience

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has long been recognised for its digital-first approach to shareholder meetings, having previously transformed its AGM into a digitally enabled meeting with Lumi Global. Building on this foundation, M&S introduced kiosk voting at its most recent AGM, giving in-person shareholders a new way to vote on the day.

The challenge

M&S's AGM arrangements are shaped around the growing demand its shareholders have shown for engaging digitally, and the company wanted to bring that same ease and efficiency to shareholders voting in person. Hard copy poll cards meant votes had to be manually collected and processed, which added time to the result count and created an inconsistent experience compared with online voting.

We always aim to be digital-first, so we were keen to find a good alternative to hard copy poll cards, one that would speed up the result count and give our in-person shareholders the same experience as those voting online.

Kayleigh Redhead, Deputy Company Secretary, M&S

The solution

Working with Lumi Global, M&S gave shareholders a simple way to vote using kiosk voting stations, powered behind the scenes to recognise each shareholder and their entitlement to vote. At registration, each shareholder was issued a smartcard linked directly to their shareholding, giving them a quick way to identify themselves at the kiosk. Shareholders simply scanned this smartcard on the kiosk tablet positioned at the side of the meeting room to cast their vote, with Lumi Global staff on standby to provide technical support. The three tablets, positioned on podium tables, gave M&S the flexibility to place them wherever worked best, improving the flow of the meeting once it had finished, with shareholders able to stop at one, scan their badge, and quickly vote before leaving.

From there, the kiosk presented shareholders with each resolution, giving them the chance to review their choices before submitting their vote, so they could leave the meeting confident their vote had been cast exactly as intended.

The results

For the M&S team, kiosk voting avoided the need to rush after shareholders to collect paper poll cards. By positioning the kiosks on the way out of the venue and having team members on hand to support each shareholder individually, M&S was able to capture more votes as shareholders left the meeting. Moving away from paper also removed the risk of errors on paper ballots. As a result, M&S recorded its highest in-room voting participation since welcoming shareholders back into the room post-COVID.

For shareholders, kiosk voting meant a simpler, faster way to vote, with team members on hand to help. Shareholders were impressed by just how quick and easy the process was.

Kiosk voting has given M&S a way to modernise the in-person voting experience while keeping its digital-first ethos front and centre. 

Find out more about how kiosk voting can support your own AGM, watch our kiosk voting video to see it in action, or speak to our experts to find out how Lumi Global can transform your shareholder meetings.