Marks & Spencer has moved the deadline for next-day click-and-collect orders back by an hour from 10pm to 11pm and is piloting a two-hour express service in 17 of its big stores.

The later cut-off time means M&S has extended the deadline by three hours since the start of the year when it was 8pm.

Stores where the two-hour proposition is being tested include Cheshire Oaks and London Oxford Street.

The 11pm cut-off reflects the fact that although many M&S shoppers typically browse between 7pm and 10pm, 5% of all orders are made between 10pm and 11pm.

The changes are being made as M&S seeks to increase online sales to 30% of its total by 2022, compared to 22% now. Click and collect has been a driver of online sales across retail and the UK market is anticipated to be worth £10bn by 2023.

Head of M&S.com Simon Wood said: “M&S is changing and we’ve got an ambitious target to have one-third of our clothing sales online by 2022. To do this we must improve how we serve our increasingly busy customers.

“Our free click-and-collect service is already incredibly popular and in the last 12 months, we’ve made it even more convenient by adding pick-up points at our railway station stores and other smaller store locations. The latest improvement will enable thousands more customers to benefit by catering for that pre-bedtime browse and shop window between 10pm and 11pm.”