M&S to extend mobile pay app trial across stores

M&S is extending its trial of an app that allows shoppers to pay for items on their mobile phone.

The Mobile, Pay, Go app, currently being tested at its head office store in Waterside, Paddington, London, as reported by The Grocer in August, and available at its Edgware Road branch, will be available at its West Hampstead, Bankside, Canary Wharf and Westfield Stratford stores before Christmas.

Mobile, Pay, Go is designed to help customers avoid queues at busy times by letting them scan and pay for products as they go. Customers then pay with a saved credit or debit card or Apple Pay up to the value of £30.

M&S said the app will allow shoppers to buy a lunch made up of a sandwich, packet of crisps and a drink in under 40 seconds.

One in five sales at the Waterside, Paddington Simply Food branch already take place via the app, with an average of 170 items being purchased through the app every hour. M&S has also already adapted some aspects of the service in response to customer feedback, such as installing a packing bench for shoppers who opt to scan items after collecting them rather than as they go.

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Following an initial collaboration with The App Business, the rollout is being fully managed and developed by M&S’s in-house digital experts.

Mobile, Pay, Go comes as part of M&S’s strategy to become a digital-first retailer, which has already seen it join with Microsoft in a strategic partnership focused on testing the integration of Microsoft AI technologies into M&S’s customer experience, stores and wider operations, and announce it will enrol more than 1,000 staff into its own data skills academy.

“Digitally enabled stores that offer a seamless customer experience are a crucial part of our transformation and our ambition to be a digital-first retailer,” said M&S’s retail, operations and property director Sacha Berendji. “Our customers, especially those who come to us for lunch, are so busy, any tech that can speed up the shopping experience is a massive benefit to them. Crucially, it also means our brilliant colleagues are freed up to offer great service in other parts of the store, helping to improve the overall experience in the lunchtime rush. We’re moving with pace and we can’t wait to hear what our customers think.”