Marks & Spencer will next month officially open the UK's biggest online distribution warehouse in the latest part of its strategy to boost internet sales.
The 900,000 square foot 'fully automated' warehouse in Castle Donnington in Leicestershire will employ 1,000 staff and is expected to distribute 2 million clothing and home products a week. The launch comes ahead of next year's crucial split with its internet partner Amazon which runs its website.
Executives at Marks & Spencer, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, have complained the partnership has held back the pace of online growth.
The warehouse is equivalent to 11 Wembley-sized football pitches. The site has been chosen for its central location, has a freight rail terminal nearby and is also close to the East Midlands Airport, the UK's second biggest cargo airport.
Marks & Spencer is expected to reveal over the next few weeks that online sales reached about £650 million in the year to the end of March. Total clothing and home sales are about £4.3 billion. Department store John Lewis said earlier this week that online sales reached £1 billion on a 52-week rolling basis against total sales of around £4 billion.
To reach that landmark, Marks & Spencer would need to increase sales by 25 per cent a year for the next two years. It has been opening foreign language web sites in countries such as France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Holland. It has also said it will open company-owned stores to support the strategy when appropriate. Most of the firm's overseas stores are run by franchise partners.
The warehouse will comply with Marks & Spencer's Plan A sustainability strategy and it aims to recruit a proportion of staff with disabilities and health problems.
Tags: Marks & Spencer, Amazon, Castle Donnington, John Lewis, ecommerce, internet shopping, etail, web retailing, online shopping, catalogue retail
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