Marks and Spencer launch m-commerce campaign

Monday, August 2, 2010 - 10:55 by Sarah Collinson

High street retailer Marks and Spencer is making a big push with a new marketing strategy that it hopes will expand its position on the mobile market.

It has generated a number of high profile mobile ads to help make UK consumers aware of its presence as an m-commerce retailer and it has also harnessed mobile network providers in its bid to increase sales. For example, it has ensconced itself on the MyWeb homepage operated by Vodafone, so most users will see its ads whenever they access the internet from their mobiles.

M&S first entered the world of m-commerce back in May when its mobile site went live and it's primarily targeting a younger audience with its mobile products and services, since this is a group that is more tech-savvy and comfortable parting with their cash via the medium of their mobiles.

A spokesperson for M&S said that it was excited to be launching its first ad campaign targeted specifically at mobile users and said that it would help to identify the benefits of its mobile site, such as offering safe shopping online from the palm of the user's hand.

Marks & Spencer's Sienne Veit, who directs its m-commerce arm, said that the firm had only decided to move into the mobile market because it felt consumers were finally ready to make purchases using their phones in economically viable numbers.

Veit pointed out that over three quarters of a million people accessed M&S' full site from their smartphones in a 12 month period, which the firm took as a sign that it should branch out.

It was recently announced that over 66 per cent of mainstream high street brands have failed to produce adequately optimised m-commerce sites, which means users either have to make do with dedicated applications or stick to safe shopping online on their home computers.