Marks and Spencer reports weak Christmas sales following online delivery problems
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Version 0 of 1. Marks and Spencer has announced that its Christmas sales were worse than expected - after the company was affected by online delivery problems over the festive period. Underlying sales of clothing, gifts and homeware fell 5.8 per cent in the third quarter, marking the fourteenth consecutive quarterly decline in general merchandise sales at the retailer. Analysts had forecast a 3 per cent drop. The performance contrasts that of supermarket Tesco, which posted better than feared trading figures for the Christmas quarter. M&S had said in December its new online distribution centre was struggling to cope with demand in the run-up to Christmas, resulting in no next day deliveries and longer waits for customers. “We had a difficult quarter in general merchandise, dominated by unseasonal conditions and an unsatisfactory performance in our e-commerce distribution centre,” chief executive Marc Bolland said in a statement. The retailer has failed to stem declines in general merchandise which started four-and-a-half years ago, a period during which shoppers have become more cost-conscious and turned away from traditional stores towards the internet and discount chains. It said a 0.1 per cent rise in like-for-like food sales in the period outperformed the grocery market but it was also lower than the 0.9 per cent the market had expected. Additional reporting by Reuters |