British retailer Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) have announced plans to launch a new food delivery service this autumn.
M&S have said they cannot deny the growing food delivery industry, where consumers can order groceries and have them delivered later that day.
Steve Rowe, chief executive of M&S, said: “We continue to review food online carefully. “It has not cost us anything over the last five years by not being online with food. Our customers haven’t moved yet, but they will and we need to ensure that we are ready with the right response. There are unanswered questions over what this means for M&S and we have a team looking at this now with a view to undertaking a soft trial in the autumn.”
AmazonFresh is the latest to cash in on the £180 billion UK grocery market.
A team of M&S executives are currently working on the logistics ahead of this Autumn when the delivery service is set to launch. The retailer is different to many other food retailers. For example, M&S only stocks 7,000 products compared with 40,000 found in most Tesco stores.
“The economics of food online are not straightforward and it is not something that we are going to rush into until we have substantial customer insight and a better understanding of what is right for M&S and right for our customers,” added Steve Rowe.
This comes as part of a bigger overhaul seen by the retailer, who hope to concentrate more on the food market.
“If they don’t do food online they stand to lose market share to people who do. It’s become a basic expectation from customers.” said Tony Shiret, an independent retail analyst.
Last year Rowe announced plans to shut 30 UK stores and convert 45 more into food only stores.
Last week, the group confirmed plans to shut six stores as part of a programme of closures announced last year.