Marks & Spencer today announces the launch of its international delivery service to France, Germany, Spain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand from its shopping website at marksandspencer.com. For the first time, UK customers can send Marks & Spencer clothes, lingerie as well as selected beauty and home accessories*, to friends and family abroad – in time for Christmas. The move is an important step as part of Marks & Spencer’s commitment to grow sales of M&S Direct to £500m by 2010/11. It also underpins the business’ continuing momentum overseas, as it expands in international markets. Director of International, Home and Direct Carl Leaver says: “Our decision to deliver internationally provides a significant opportunity for Marks & Spencer, not only to grow sales of our ecommerce business, but to further extend our brand globally. “We’re excited to be delivering something really special to consumers overseas and have deliberately selected markets where we currently don’t have stores, but where we know through extensive feedback, that there is a demand for our goods. “Our long-association with quality manufacturing and innovation, and our consistently fresh take on the latest fashion trends, give us confidence that Marks & Spencer will go down well in these markets,” he said. Marks & Spencer will be the first major British retailer to deliver internationally to New Zealand, and one of only a few that ships to Australia and Canada. Last orders to Australia and New Zealand are on the 4th December, to the United States and Canada on 9th December, and to France, Germany and Spain on 11th December. Deliveries will cost £10 to France, Germany and Spain, and £20 to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and will be managed through Royal Mail and Parcel Force. The launch of international delivery follows a series of new additions to the online business, including the launch of an online wine club, the introduction of 3,000 premium white goods online, development of a Business Solutions portal for corporate gifting, as well as a customer reviews and ratings system for many products. – Ends – * excludes furniture, kitchens, technology, electricals, wine and food About M&S: M&S is one of the UK’s leading retailers, with over 21 million people visiting our stores each week. We offer stylish, high quality, great value clothing and home products, as well as outstanding quality foods, responsibly sourced from around 2,000 suppliers globally. We employee over 75,000 people in the UK and abroad, and have more than 660 stores in the UK, as well as 290 stores internationally. Recent marksandspencer.com news: M&S has launched a Wine club at marksandspencer.com/wineplan – for customers who want to sign up to quarterly wine deliveries, hand-picked by M&S’ team of specialists. Customers will automatically receive exclusive 12-bottle-case selections delivered free every 3 months, with the flexibility to choose between all reds, all whites or mixed red and white selection. M&S has taken the hard-work out of shopping for whitegoods by selecting 3,000 of the very best brands on the market to sell online, including Smeg, Hotpoint, Electrolux, Bosch and Siemens. The new ranges join our existing technology products online. All products selected are EU energy ‘A’ rated or above and include everything from cooker hoods, dishwashers, fridge freezers and washing machines to wine coolers and coffee machines. Businesses can now quickly and conveniently order corporate gifts, gift vouchers and catering, from one online location at marksandspencer.com/businesssolutions. In addition to the selection of hampers, wine cases and flowers, businesses can also choose from more than 300 ready-to-serve food products for working lunches, training-days or parties through our successful ‘lunchtogo’ catering service.