Marks & Spencer has reconfirmed its commitment to investing in its systems and supply chain in order to weather what it admits will be a difficult 2009 and beyond.

Indeed, it expects to spend£200 million on supply chain and IT in its next financial year. The retailer has admitted that it is nowhere near as agile as it should be, and so despite its profits slump, it must continue to invest in these areas.

With like-for-like sales slipping, it is gratifying to see that the company understands that to take full advantage of alternative growth opportunities, it needs a computing platform and logistics model that can quickly respond to whatever challenges get chucked at it.

In a video interview on the retailer’s site, Chairman Sir Stuart Rose said: “The bulk of the capital expenditure next year will be put towards IT, to make sure that the IT platforms to take the business into the next part of its development are the right sort of platforms. And that investment will be several hundred million pounds. So we are still investing in the business.”

Its new PCMS EPoS system shout be hitting stores next year. M&S also expects to bolster core systems with SAP, as well as a complete HR systems replacement.

At the same time, 30 per cent of the budget will be focused on growth, investing in its direct and international business, including the opening of a dedicated e-commerce warehouse.

Other retailers have found that supply chain systems constricted their ability to operate optimally internationally – especially where this problem means stock must be imported from overseas, only to be sent abroad again to international stores. It’s not such a problem when you only have a few overseas stores, but serious international ambitions require serious logistics.

Investing in IT to cut costs is all well and good – it is what all retailers should be doing to maintain profitability. But the continued commitment of M&S management to improve agility could prove crucial to the business in the next couple of years if it wants to stop a sales slide too.

It comes at the same time that M&S is reportedly reviewing whether it will keep shelling out for celebrity models such as Twiggy.

IT might not be as glamorous as extravagant advertising, but with the economy as it is, it could do more to keep the tills ringing.

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