Get Mobile & Shop - M&S lead the rise of mobile shopping

Marks & Spencer has launched a new version of its website designed to be used on mobile phones and mobile devices. This, it claims, is a first from a major UK high street retailer.

M&S's aim with their mobile launch is to allow customers to search and make purchasing easily from any web-enabled mobile device. With more than 24,000 products available from clothing to technology, you'll be packing quite a substantial store in you pocket.

The site, developed by Usablenet, takes M&S's online offer away from the home and, perhaps ironically, back onto the streets.

So, will mobile shopping really take off on the UK high street?…
Newer experiences for older customers

I've talked a little before about the freedom digital is finding, but with M&S mobile we're seeing real strides in the way digital channels are connecting with new customers. For a retailer who's natural demographic is far from the techno youth set normally associated with the latest digital channels, this has got to be a bold move.

The retailer has seen positive online grow this year – in the first three months of 2010 M&S witnessed sales at online shopping division M&S Direct grow 48% having seen a 32% rise in the three months to Christmas.

So, if the ‘typical' M&S shopper is saving their parking pounds and switching on their PCs to purchase, will they reach for their mobiles and spend more on the move?
Step into a new kind of shop

Mobile retailing is the next logical step for the high street. Having created successful brands both on the street and online good retailers have been experimenting with digital expansion for sometime now. We've seen digital retail displays, interactive poster displays, as well as wholly immersive digital retail environments. Now we're seeing the reality of pocket powered shopping.

The interesting point here, I think, is not that this move to mobile is happening – it was always just a matter of time, it's the fact that it's M&S that's taking the lead. For a brand that, one could argue, has netted the silver surfer (although I have no figures to backup this statement!) it will be interesting to see if the mobile service attracts similar success.

What is guaranteed however, is that within our increasingly niche focused society, the more outlets a retailer can offer, the more chance they have of pocketing the purchasers pound. Opening up a new kind of shop can only help in attracting new customers, giving current customers options, and extending the brand's reach.