Marks & Spencer today emphasised the importance of multichannel in its business as it launched a marketing campaign to encourage the 19m customers who shop in its stores but not online only to try out its internet offering.
The company invited analysts into the business to find out more about its .com business on the same day it unveiled a new ‘Discover’ customer recruitment campaign running both online and in stores. The campaign, which features in store windows and in an in-store brochure, invites customers to take a look at the M&S website for themselves. It will also be supported via direct mail and on social media.
The campaign structure reflects a business where digital, in the form of the website, has been brought into store through the extensive use of screens in shops. More than 40,000 employees are using the M&S.com platform through 120 in-store browse and order hubs and through 1,500 iPad assisted sellers.
Laura Wade-Gery, M&S executive director of multichannel, ecommerce, said: “Multichannel shopping represents the future of retail and lies at the heart of our transformation plan.
“That’s why we have invested in building our new web platform to be in tune with our customers’ needs and fully integrated with the rest of our business. We are now well set up to adapt and change quickly and cost-efficiently for future requirements.”
M&S pointed to its new website, M&S.com, launched in February as part of the fashion-to-food retailer’s drive to create an “agile, flexible trading platform that caters for current consumer shopping needs and is fit for the future.”
It also focused on its aim to bring content and commerce together. “Customers,” said Wade-Gery, “are 24% more likely to buy if they have had access to editorial content.”
At the centre of the campaign is the website’s Style & Living editorial hub, which covers areas including fashion, food and lifestyle. Campaign messages will highlight this editorial focus on the website.
