In Q3, 2012, Marks & Spencer saw sales from mobile devices increase by 90 per cent over the same period last year, according to its trading results.
While its overall sales in the UK were down by 1.8 per cent, M&Ss multichannel sales increased by 10.8 per cent.
“Our plan is to transform Marks & Spencer from a traditional UK retailer to an international multi-channel retailer,” said M&S chief executive Marc Bolland. “We are making good progress against this plan.”
John Oswald, business design lead at design consultancy Fjord thinks these results point to a larger trend in retail:
“This is concrete proof of the revolution in retail we are seeing as online and offline continue to merge,” Oswald says. “Marks & Spencer is genuinely seeking to build a holistic and immersive customer experience. The trick will be to continue to build on this and not get blown off course by continued analyst pressure about general merchandise sales. It’s not online thats making a real difference on its own, rather its the overall online/offline blended experience thats making a big difference. The future for retailers is multi-faceted and experience-led.”
And, in case youre scratching your head as to why M&S is only now releasing its Q3 results, as Samsung prepares its Q4 figures, its worth noting that UK financial quarters are based on the tax year, and so Q3 ended on 29 December.