Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “Marks & Spencer has bold plans to double its online sales and is building out infrastructure to support a bigger digital operation.
“It has snapped up ASOS’s logistics warehouse in Lichfield to have capacity to fulfil more orders and deliver them faster.
“It’s a win-win situation for both Marks & Spencer and ASOS, even though they both compete in the same space.
“ASOS is in turnaround mode, and its recovery efforts are pedestrian at best, so it doesn’t need as much fulfilment capacity as it previously thought.
“The cash injection from selling the leasehold and automation machinery will come in handy as it helps to shore up the balance sheet and ASOS will save £6 million a year in rent and associated occupancy costs.
“Marks & Spencer has snapped up a pre-built fashion logistics operation, which should be much quicker to mould into shape than fitting out a warehouse from scratch.
“Marks & Spencer will have the site up and running by next year, giving it greater capability to capitalise on online sales demand.
“Marks & Spencer is fighting hard to reclaim its crown as the affordable but high-quality fashion king.
“Its recent cyber-attack knocked the business for six and arch-rival Next took advantage of the situation and hoovered up a lot of M&S’s customers.
“Marks & Spencer is now trying to win these people back and get other customers to do more.
“Sizing, availability and speed of delivery matter to people, and this is where Marks & Spencer should be able to excel.”
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