M&S launches online outlet shopping

Marks & Spencer has launched an online version of its discount outlet stores, as part of its multiplatform strategy.

&S Outlet will offer up to 40% off M&S clothing ranges including menswear, womenswear, lingerie and children’s wear and will feature items from recent M&S collections from its brands including Per Una, Autograph and Collezione.

M&S currently operates 50 Outlet stores in the UK, but has never been available online.

The M&S Outlet site stands alone from the core M&S website and is operated by http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifAmazon, meaning customers can use Amazon accounts on the site, but they cannot return items to M&S Outlet or high street stores.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
A spokesperson for M&S says that while the online Outlet store is not fully integrated with the rest of the business, it has been designed “to cater for the way customers are shopping now” and is likely to be integrated with the new M&S ecommerce platform due to launch in 2013.

CEO Marc Bolland set out his long-term plans for building a multiplatform business last year, including ending its partnership with Amazon, which currently provides M&S’s main ecommerce website, to develop a bespoke and fully integrated online platform due to launch in 2013.

Source: Marketing Week