M&S Targets Nearly 50% Online Sales in Fashion, Home & Beauty

The plan puts profitability alongside digital expansion. An online sales target alone would not show whether growth was paying off; setting a margin ambition for each channel makes the cost of serving customers central to the strategy.

Across the group, M&S is aiming for mid-to-high single-digit sales growth, with profit increasing faster. It said investment in its operating model and faster cost reduction would support that ambition. The company remains on track for £600 million of structural cost reductions by FY28.

The strategy update follows the half-year results reported on November 4, when M&S disclosed adjusted profit before tax of £403.2 million. That recovery remained below the pre-cyberattack level, with stock availability and online fulfilment costs important to the fashion business.

The new channel ambitions describe where management wants the business to go, rather than results already achieved. Food has a separate ambition to double sales over time and reach an operating margin of around 5%. International growth will focus on capital-light channels…