Marks & Spencer has revealed a decline in overall like–for-like sales following the Christmas period, despite a strong performance by the retailers’ online platform.

Increases in mobile uptake have helped to drive traffic with more than 100 per cent increases in tablet orders and more than 80 per cent growth in mobile orders, helping online sales to grow by nearly a quarter.

M&S chief executive, Marc Bolland, said: “M&S.com had a great quarter with sales up 23 percent, strongly ahead of the market. Our strategy to transform M&S into an international, multi-channel retailer, will keep on improving our .com service with the launch of our new platform and our new warehouse at full capacity.”

Despite the strong performance from online sales like-for-like sales fell 0.2 percent over the festive period.

The poor Christmas performance reflects the experiences of many high street retailers, with Tesco and H&M recording an overall decline in growth.

Marks & Spencer suffers from clothing slump

M&S moves to develop online presence after recognising failures