Marks & Spencer to launch same-day fashion delivery

Marks & Spencer will be the first big fashion retailer to offer such rapid fulfilment of clothing orders, making it faster than competitors such as Asos and Next, The Times reported.

Some items could potentially be delivered in half a day and the service is expected to include products which may be ordered at the last minute, such as school uniforms and clothese for evening functions.

The rapid delivery service forms part of Marks & Spencer’s switch to a digital-first approach and the creation last year of its MS2 division, designed to turbocharge online growth with a license to think and act like a pureplay.

Marks & Spencer chief executive Steve Rowe sees stores as an advantage even as it scales up online operations. He told The Times: ”People think of the store portfolio as being an albatross around our neck but I don’t think it is, I think we are going to have a multichannel proposition so we can be where our customers want and they can choose how quickly they want it.”

However retail analyst Richard Hyman told the newspaper: ”M&S has upped its competitive ante, the question is whether faster delivery is an advantage because their challenge is more around the relevance of its product and whether they can gain market share again after so many years of declines.”

Rapid delivery, especially of food, has risen in popularity since the Covid pandemic erupted last year. A raft of specialist companies has emerged to cater for demand in grocery, and businesses such as Deliveroo have become big players in the on-demand market.

Outside food, retailers such as Amazon and Next have long offered next-day delivery, and cut-off times for orders have been reduced over some time.