Marks & Spencer expands international online operations

Marks & Spencer has opened up its webshop to 46 additional markets. This brings its online reach to a total of more than 100 countries.

“Low-cost expansion”

The expansion is part of the so-called ‘Never the Same Again’ transformation programme, with which the company wants to boost its online business. Marks & Spencer claims this will enable the company to grow without substantial start-up costs. The webshop has been translated into ten additional languages, and new currencies were added.

Last year, for the first time in its history of 94 years as a listed company, the British retailer suffered losses because the coronavirus affected sales in its stores. But at the same time, online sales grew by 75 per cent according to the latest interim results, writes the BBC. Marks & Spencer is in the midst of a drastic restructuring programme that involved cutting 7,000 jobs in stores and management last year.

“Under our Never the Same Again programme we’re focused on turbo-charging our online business both in the UK and internationally, and as part of this we see a real opportunity in extending the number of countries where we run an online channel further,” said International Managing Director Paul Friston.