Fashion retailer Zara has announced plans to open online stores that could see it require parcel to France services.

The firm is owned by Spanish firm Inditex, and is to open online stores in the UK and France simultaneously.

People will also be able to order a parcel delivery from the retailer in Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal on the same day.

Zara will be selling its extensive clothing online for the first time, after it was only previously possible to buy its fashion items in store.

Meanwhile, rival H&M is to follow on its heels two weeks later with its own online store.

No doubt these retailers are keen get their share of an industry which PayPal claims will be worth £30 billion by 2012, equating to one in every ten pounds spent in the UK, taking place online.