Marks & Spencer is poised to launch its new website following a difficult trading during which internet sales rocketed.
The clothing retailer's chief information officer Darrell Stein said systems managers are in the 'closing stages' of switching from using the Amazon platform.
'We are live with three out of the eight systems - the back-end systems - and we will put the front-end stuff on [beginning this month]. That's going to go live by Spring,' he told Cio.co.uk.
He said that Marks & Spencer was 'renting' the Amazon platform but it was increasingly critical to switch to its own systems.
The tie-up with Amazon was agreed in 2005 and launched in 2007. But Stein told said: 'The problem with using Amazon is that you have got a key growth area for your business being run by a competitor - they are now also selling general merchandise online.'
He explained that M&S was not able to change the systems as frequently as it wanted. 'They were trying to drive it down more of a package route and we want to be really flexible and change it every five minutes. It was completely divergent.'
He said internet sales have grown from £30 million to £700 million during its partnership with Amazon.
He also told Computer World that M&S is currently testing SAP HANA to help it monitor real time stock availability. He said monitoring stock so closely was not a necessity in the past.
He explained: 'Previously you could order overnight, it was in the store the next day - but the internet has blown all that away. You need to know what you have got right now so you can show your customers in real-time.'
He said it was a 'key infrastructure project' that is still in 'validation mode'.
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