West End shops ready for ‘e-Christmas’

Retailers in London’s West End have been investing in technology to improve shopping experience both in-store and online as the battle for Christmas shoppers heats up, according to research.

Six out of 10 (61 per cent) of the flagship stores on Oxford Street have an mCommerce offering, which allows customers to make purchases on a mobile device, Virgin Media Business has found. The major West End stores are making an extra effort to attract and retain customers in the run up to Christmas, maintaining the now traditional eCommerce methods through online sales, and now adding mCommerce options.

The number of mobile searches for retail offerings has increased by 168 per cent year on year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Google, highlighting how lucrative the mCommerce market can be.

Shop attendants at Niketown on Oxford Street are taking payments on mobile devices in a bid to reduce queues and process transactions quicker, while 23 per cent of flagship stores have touch screen terminals for customers to pick up items they ordered online or request delivery.

Debenhams is using social networking website FourSquare to offer a “free coffee Friday” and John Lewis has unveiled plans to provide free WiFi to shoppers in all its department stores before Christmas, demonstrating how key it is to be proactive online.