Former New Look boss Phil Wrigley caused a bit of a storm recently while coining a neat phrase that will no doubt be used time and again.

The essence of the argument, in case you missed it, was that high street shops are in a “death spiral” and shops should be turned into housing.

It’s a great soundbite that sums up a view many hold. But isn’t it overly fatalistic? Confidence isn’t that low, surely? Well, not in the people I talk to anyway. How about I coin my own phrase? “Mobile technology will help save the high street in 2012.” OK, not as catchy - but I believe it.

With the BRC reporting the second-worst January sales data since its records began, retailers need to look to innovative, creative ways to engage customers. Offering experiences through m-commerce and mobile technology is one way of doing it.

O2 Media’s retail research has found that 47% of people said that the likelihood of them visiting a store increased after receiving a text message/offer and one in four customers were driven to purchase the advertised product.

With continued consumer hesitation on the high street, we need to persuade them to shop. But it isn’t just about offers, it’s about the entire customer journey.

Mobile does not just increase purchase, but can build awareness, drive footfall and build brands. We have done this for clients such as M&S, Starbucks and at Christmas House of Fraser, for whom we delivered in-store wi-fi, location-based messaging and text message offers - all in-store.

The Mobile Online Journey Observation Study by the IAB showed that 49% of consumers use their mobile in-store even without a ‘nudge’ via messaging and that 34% of consumers purchase products via their mobile.

With the launch due later this year of near-field communications and mobile wallets, the role of mobile in shopping is only going to increase. There won’t even be the usual lag time while consumers get used to the technology (as there was with e-commerce) because people are asking for these advancements. The industry must keep pace.

Technological innovations have helped every industry so far and will definitely continue to do so. Let’s embrace that fact and start engaging customers with something new and exciting. I have no doubt they’ll bite.

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