UK fashion and food retailer Marks & Spencer is to launch a same-day clothing delivery service for online orders as it grows its online presence.

According to M&S it will be the first major fashion retailer offering same-day delivery of clothes, putting it ahead of rivals like Asos and Next.

Amongst other lines, CEO Steve Rowe has said that school uniforms, cocktail dresses and lingerie could be delivered within hours, allowing for impulse buys for occasions.

The system will use the bricks and mortar store estate as local fulfilment centres, giving Marks & Spencer the edge on online-only rivals that don’t always have business units so close to their customers. It is still to permanently close 100 of its 1000 high street shops thanks to the pressures of the general trend of shoppers moving towards online shopping.

“People think of the store portfolio as being an albatross around our neck but I don’t think it is, I think we are going to have a multichannel proposition so we can be where our customers want and they can choose how quickly they want it,” Rowe said.

Marks & Spencer already offers next-day grocery delivery through its partnership with Ocado. That is a market that is already leaning towards same-day delivery. It remains to be seen if M&S take a leap in that direction for groceries.