Sales at Marks & Spencer rose 5.4 percent to
£4.57 billion in the 26 weeks ended 2nd October. In the UK,
sales increased 5.6 percent and international sales grew 3.8
percent.
By 2014, M&S plans to become a “leading UK multichannel
retailer” with direct sales revenues of £800 million
to £1 billion. Back to 2010 though, M&S Direct sales were up
49 percent in the first half of the year; site traffic grew by 27
percent to almost 3 million visits per week.
The company also places a strong emphasis on international
expansion and expects to grow overseas sales to £1 billion
by 2014. It will do this through an emphasis on franchise
operations, entering joint ventures or a “wholly owned
model in selected markets where it is appropriate”. It will
also open localised websites in specific markets from 2013.
Overall, adjusted operating profit at the retailer was up 12.1
percent to £409.2 million, compared with £365 million
last year.
Cosmetics firm Avon is selling its Japanese
operations to private equity firm TPG Capital for approximately
£56 million (7.3 billion yen), writes the Financial Times.
Sainsbury’s has launched a new website selling
games, music and DVDs. The site, on the MBL platform, went live
on 5th November
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