MARKS & Spencer Plc. (M&S) is making a new push to expand abroad, hoping e-commerce will give Britain’s biggest clothing retailer a better chance to succeed than earlier attempts to enter new markets.

    It is one of several retailers that are using expertise developed in the United Kingdom’’s fast-growing e-commerce market to expand overseas. Store chains like M&S are starting to emulate the success of online-only fashion players like ASOS.

    Britain is the world’s most developed online retail market, according to a ranking by commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, followed by the United States, Germany and France.

    M&S withdrew from mainland Europe in 2001 after a failed expansion. The retreat was temporary. In March the firm said it would use “bricks and clicks” — opening new stores in a few markets while offering online sales in several more — to accelerate growth abroad.

    Although the United States is the biggest e-commerce market by absolute turnover, Internet orders make up a bigger portion of total retail sales in Britain — about 11 percent in 2013 to 7.3 percent in the United States, Euromonitor data shows.

    Britain’s leadership position in e-commerce has been driven by its compact size —- which make delivery more cost-effective — along with its relatively high internet penetration.

    Retailers are seeking to ship more goods to shoppers abroad, a drive the British Government is supporting to diversify exports from a heavy reliance on finance. It launched a plan last year to help 1,000 retailers break into international markets by 2015.

    Consultants OC&C say U.K. retailers are beating domestic competition overseas due to wider choice, better prices and fast and reliable delivery. They predict overseas online sales by British retailers will jump to 28 billion pounds (US$47 billion) by 2020 from just 4 billion in 2012.(SD-Agencies)