British retailer M&S has agreed a conditional deal valued at £67.5m (US$91m) to acquire a new 40,600m2 fully automated fashion distribution center in Lichfield, formerly used by online fashion retailer ASOS.
The new logistics hub – set to employ 600 people – will add capacity and process orders quickly, helping to realize M&S’s ambition to double the size of its online fashion business.
The site will enable deliveries to be completed more quickly, with customers able to order later in the day and with more sizes and styles available.
M&S managing director for Fashion, Home and Beauty, John Lyttle, said, “As we transform M&S Fashion, Home and Beauty, our ambition is to double online sales. To achieve this and serve our customers faster, more efficiently and with better availability, our 24/7 distribution network needs more capacity.
“We’ve always said that we’ll deliver our transformation with highly disciplined capital investment, always mindful of spending shareholder money wisely. This acquisition does just that, delivering tangible business benefits that move our transformation forward, at a much lower cost compared with a new-build option.”
M&S said that supply chain transformation is a strategic priority, focusing on reducing the time to move a product from supplier to distribution center to stores or customers to boost growth.
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