Marks & Spencer has partnered with Lily AI to improve how its products are found across Google, organic search and emerging AI-powered shopping channels.

The business is using Lily AI’s Product Intelligence Platform to automate and improve the creation of structured product data at scale, helping it bring new items to market faster while ensuring products are correctly attributed, categorised and ready for discovery from launch.

The technology is designed to enrich product feeds with AI-powered attributes, giving search engines, advertising platforms and retail systems more detailed information about each item.

M&S said the move had reduced the manual effort and number of external partners needed to manage product data, while improving the quality of its feeds across paid and organic channels.

It has deployed the platform to support its Google Shopping and organic search performance, with Lily AI claiming the enriched product data is already helping to drive stronger visibility, higher click-through rates and a “meaningful lift” in revenue.

Stephen Orford, head of online experience at Marks & Spencer, said: “Lily AI has become a core part of how we manage and scale our product content at M&S.

“From setting up new items to optimising for Google, the platform delivers across the board. It’s already making a measurable difference to our efficiency and our commercial performance.”

Lily AI co-founder and chief executive Purva Gupta said retailers were increasingly competing on the quality of the product data that sits behind their ecommerce operations.

“In a world where your product feed is your storefront, the quality of your product content is a competitive advantage,” she said.

For M&S, the partnership forms part of a wider digital and ecommerce push as it continues to reshape its Fashion, Home and Beauty business.

M&S said in its latest full-year results that digital and technology investment was increasing, including in its online platform and planning systems, while its Sparks loyalty scheme has been relaunched with wallet-based rewards to support greater personalisation and engagement.

M&S is also investing in the physical infrastructure needed to support online growth. In May, it agreed a £67.5m deal to acquire a 437,000 sq ft fully automated fashion distribution centre in Lichfield from Asos.

The site is expected to become operational in 2027 and will support the retailer’s long-term ambition to double online sales across Fashion, Home and Beauty. M&S said the added capacity would help it improve availability, speed up order processing and serve customers faster across stores and direct-to-consumer channels.

The investment comes after a difficult year for M&S’s online operations following the cyber incident that disrupted the business in 2025. In its full-year results to 28 March 2026, M&S reported adjusted pre-tax profit down 23.8 per cent to £671.4m, with £131.3m of incident-related costs included in adjusting items.

Fashion, Home and Beauty sales fell 7.7 per cent over the year, although the business maintained adjusted operating profit of £213.4m and said style perception metrics had improved despite disruption.

M&S has since signalled confidence in its recovery, with chairman Archie Norman telling investors the business had entered the new financial year in “fighting fit form”.

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