Marks & Spencer (M&S) has launched a mobile website, the first from a major UK high street retailer.

The site, developed by Usablenet and designed by Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), will always be in sync with the main M&S website so that customers can log into their regular web account and manage their shopping basket from their mobile. There’s no need to download an app or any software, users simply type www.marksandspencer.com into their phone’s internet browser, and the site recognises that it is being accessed via a mobile phone and serves up the mobile version.  

Customers will find over 24,000 products – including clothing, home and furniture, technology such as TVs and iPods and gifts such as flowers and food hampers – and almost all of the functionality from the main M&S website. 

“This is a major step forward in mobile retailing,” says M&S Direct director Dave Hughes. “Mobile-optimised shopping sites have been done before by specialist retailers, but M&S entering the market with 21 million customers, one of the UK’s most recognised brands and a well-known range of products, changes the mobile retail landscape.

“Even before the site has launched, hundreds of thousands of customers are already shopping with us on their mobile phones and market data is telling us that this will soon be millions. The new site allows these customers to browse and buy from their mobile device, without the frustrations that come with trying to do the same on a traditional website. We expect customers to buy a wide range of products on their mobile.”