Last year, Marks & Spencer outlined ambitions to grow its clothing and home market share by 1%, and operating margin to over 10%. It also aims for ecommerce to account for 50% of clothing and home sales by 2028.
In an update ahead of the autumn/winter 24 collection launch, the retailer said that ecommerce currently stands at 32%, which has increased from 22% five years ago.
A number of updates are launching today, to coincide with its new-season collections. Today’s updates include faster page loading times, which M&S has increased by half a second. Stephen Langford, director of online and omnichannel at M&S also revealed that 80% of product descriptions are now written by generative AI.
M&S has also reduced the number of links presented to customers by 40% for a “more intuitive” experience.
The retailer has also increased personalisation across its web pages and Sparks app to provide more relevant content to consumers.
Currently, 44% of its online sales are made through the Sparks app, which has grown from 37% this time last year. Sparks currently has 5m users.
To date, 450,000 Sparks users have taken part in quizzes around body shape, size and style preferences to inform its Style Tips tool which in turn produces curated outfits.
Langford said that two thirds of new customers have been acquired through its online channels and its spend on social platforms has risen by 79% year on year, more than it spends on TV advertising.
M&S launched live shopping in 2022 with over 300 shows so far, with around 17,000 visiters per show on average.
Updates to M&S’s digital offer are visible through its womenswear category today on M&S.com and the Sparks app. The initiative will be extended to menswear next, followed by home and kidswear.
Sales at M&S’s clothing and home division were up 5.3% year on year for the year to 30 March 2024. Adjusted operating profit for the categories increased by 21% in the period to £402.8m.
Market share for clothing climbed from 9.6% to 10% in the period with an operating margin of 10.3%.