M&S to build and manage a new e-commerce platform

Aims to be a leading international multi-channel retailer

M&S to build new online platform

High-street giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) plans to build and manage a new platform for its web site as part of an ambitious strategy to grow UK and international sales.

The food, clothing and home retailer said the new site would bring together information for customers on all the ways they can shop at M&S – in-store, online and over the telephone.

The current site, launched in 2007, was developed by M&S’s in-house IT team in partnership with Amazon.

“We will continue to work closely with Amazon to maximise the performance of our existing platform until our Amazon agreement ends in late 2013,” said M &S in its interim results statement.

M&S’s online investment is part of a major push to grow international sales to between £800m and £1bn by 2013/14. Chief executive Mark Bolland said he planned to “develop M&S into an international multi-channel retailer, making the M&S brand more accessible to more customers around the world”.

As well as developing its main e-commerce site, M&S will also set up locally-tailored web sites in countries that already have retail stores.

The company said it was making good progress with its IT systems upgrade, part of its Project 2020 scheme which it says will save £125m in IT costs. A new stock management system has been installed, and new point-of-sale systems rolled out into 40 stores, with completion due in 2011.

It is also beginning to roll out a new SAP system as well as trialling new forecasting and ranging systems in food.

A combined National Distribution Centre and dedicated e-commerce facility will be built in the East Midlands next year.

Digital and social media stats
• Online sales up 49 per cent over six months
• Site traffic grew by 27 per cent to almost 3 million visits per week
• Mobile-optimised web site m.marksandspencer.com visited by 1.2 million unique visitors, generating more than 13,000 orders
• Online video channel M&S TV viewed more than 4 million times
• M&S has 160,000 Facebook fans and 14,000 Twitter followers.