Marks & Spencer Initiates Digital Overhaul for Clothing and Home Division

British department store retailer Marks & Spencer is embarking on a digital transformation journey for its Clothing & Home business, aiming to establish a more agile platform that can adeptly respond to evolving consumer needs and trends.

Collaborating with its latest partner, o9 Solutions, a software platform provider, Marks & Spencer will focus on enhancing its end-to-end planning systems. The integration will involve o9’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform, Digital Brain, replacing existing systems across various channels. The subsequent phase will involve the replacement of forecasting and replenishment systems, all of which will be seamlessly integrated into a unified platform.

The anticipated rollout is slated to occur over the next three years, addressing the increased demand in the Clothing & Home business, which witnessed an impressive 11.2 percent growth in sales for FY22/23.

Richard Price, Managing Director of the division at Marks & Spencer, stated, “As we reshape for growth, we are investing to modernise and upgrade our systems so we can create greater visibility and collaboration between teams and suppliers, improve planning & availability and enable us to be more tailored and localised with our ranging.”

He further added, “By having an end-to-end planning platform, we will be able to better use data and AI to inform decision-making and future planning so we can continue to be more relevant, more often to our customers.” The initiative reflects Marks & Spencer’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements in the retail landscape.