Marks & Spencer reports on contactless roll-out

Multichannel retailer completes mobile store payment technology deployment to become Visa’s number one UK contactless retailer

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has revealed the completion of its roll out of contactless payment to 644 of its UK stores, including its railway and airport franchise stores.

The move makes M&S a leading contactless retailer in the UK, processing over 230,000 contactless transactions every week, which it said amounts to one in seven (14%) of its customer payments under £20.

The technology, provided byVisa Europe, enables consumers to touch a contactless reader with their Near Field Communications (NFC) enabled cards or mobile phones to pay for goods under £20 without the need to enter a PIN.

Convenience for food

The service is proving particularly popular in the retailer’s Food Halls, with a quarter of contactless payments processed at self checkout points in its food department.

Sacha Berendji, Marks & Spencer retail director, commented: “Contactless and mobile payment is set to be an exciting part of the future retail landscape. A contactless payment takes place in less than a second, creating a quicker, easier and more convenient shopping experience. Customers are already embracing these benefits and, through our roll-out, we’re ensuring our stores can cater for customers’ changing shopping habits.”

UK contactless hotspots

The retailer expanded its contactless roll-out following a successful trial in 25 London stores last summer. Although London stores continue to have the highest levels of contactless transactions, M&S also reported seeing increasing use of contactless cards in other busy urban centres including Manchester, Croydon and Reading.

Richard Cooke, manager at the M&S Finsbury Pavement store, which completes around one in three of its card transactions under £20 by contactless, reported: “In busy central stores that receive a huge lunchtime rush, contactless payment is helping to revolutionise the customer experience. Self-checkout tills are already very popular, but contactless helps reduce queue times even further, giving customers a payment option that’s even quicker than cash.”