Marks & Spencer’s In Store Digital Overhaul

In store Marks & Spencer sales representatives will now be equipped with iPads in an aim to give customers a better and more complete shopping experience. The move makes M&S one of the first major retailers to offer the benefits of online shopping combined with the benefits of in store shopping. This new in store overhaul is the brainchild of M&S CEO Marc Bolland in an aim to integrate multichannel operations.

Another aspect of this overhaul is the addition of the digital kiosks in the selected beauty departments which offer services such as the increasingly popular "virtual makeover". The online tool has attributed to roughly 10% of their online cosmetic sales so the addition of these in store booths along with the tablet equipped staff will boost sales.

Bolland also hopes that this new strategy will boost sales in men's tailoring and in the fashion brands, where styles can be chosen in store, tried on and in the case of men's tailoring, fitted. Then the customer can be shown online alternatives from the M&S online range, where different options would be available for colours, sizes and online only exclusives.

Some of the smaller M&S stores do not carry all of the designers that the bigger stores would, so in these stores there would be Style Online kiosks that contain touch screen monitors so that customers who can't see the full range of designers in store can buy online and pick up in store the next day.

Marc Bolland's new online overhaul strategy that he has laid out for Marks & Spencer is a great example of how the combination of in store and online shopping can be combined to offer customers the best possible shopping experience and by doing so can take great steps to increasing sales, footfall into stores and overall profit.

Written by Jason John Mills