M&S is exploring a deal for a giant new warehouse in the Midlands as the retailer aims to capitalise on the booming growth of its online fashion and homeware arm.
The retail giant is reportedly seeking additional space, with property insiders telling The Telegraph that M&S has been exploring options for a one million sq ft site in the Northamptonshire region, though no final decision has been made yet.
M&S currently has about 9.4m customers who regularly shop online, and the retailer aims for 50% of its fashion and homeware sales to come from online purchases. However, most sales still occur in-store.
The retailer’s recent online refresh has enhanced the user experience, with improvements including personalised homepages, faster browsing speeds, simplified navigation, and modernised visuals.
At its recent capital markets day, the retailer highlighted progress in refining its supply chain, reducing the number of warehouses and distribution centres from 16 in 2018 to 10 in 2023, resulting in £45m in savings.
Executives told investors last year that there was still “more to do.”
M&S has also been modernising its warehouses with increased automation, including a newly automated facility at its Bradford centre.
A spokesman for the retailer told The Telegraph: “Modernising our supply chain is a key pillar of our strategy to reshape M&S for growth, so we always keep an eye on what’s in the market, but this is nothing more than that.”
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