Marks & Spencer is shaking up its online operation as part of its long-term goal of increasing Internet sales online sales from £500m to £1bn in two and a half years.
The retailer has signed a £15m to deploy IBM technology which integrates purchasing, order management and customer services information across all sales channels.
Just last week, the company revealed it was boosting its data strategy in an attempt to ride out the economic storm, including a new SAP system enabling managers to drill down into each range of products to see which lines are selling – why and where – and which ones are bringing in the highest profits.
The IBM technology, comprising IBM Sterling Order Management and WebSphere Commerce, will “help M&S capitalise on the growth of mobile, social and multichannel purchasing by consumers,” according to IBM.
“Web-order management means that clothes that may have been returned – and it is Marks & Spencer’s policy to accept returns – do not sit on a reduced rack. If someone visiting another store or web site wants to buy one of these items, there will be visibility of it and its location. This will save the company lots of money,” said IBM director of smarter commerce north east Europe Iain Devine.
“The fact that M&S is able to easily configure this software, rather than spend money and time on integrating it, will also be good for the company,” he added.
The deal is part of wider changes to its website. The site is currently hosted by Amazon, but Devine explained that this does not allow the company to achieve the speed of change needed to take advantage of capabilities around mobile and social media. M&S is currently in the process of procuring a new hosting partner for its site.
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