PAY WITH ME: M&S BECOMES THE FIRST UK FOOD RETAILER TO LAUNCH ON-THE-SPOT PAYMENT SOLUTION TO MAKE SHOPPING QUICKER, EASIER AND SAFER IN THE FINAL FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

• Pay With Me live at 200 stores to help M&S bust the queues at the checkouts in the final few days before Christmas
  
  
• The technology is the latest in a series of new digital solutions to help make shopping quicker and easier
  
  
• M&S has also installed 1,000 additional self-service tills and rolled out Scan & Shop

M&S has launched a brand-new, on-the-spot digital payment solution to help relieve queues at the checkouts and allow customers to shop with confidence this Christmas.

Pay With Me is the latest in a series of new digital solutions to help make shopping quicker and easier

Available at 200 M&S stores (scroll to bottom of the page for a list) Pay With Me allows an M&S colleague to pick out customers waiting in line to pay for just a few items, and quickly process their transaction via a handheld Honeywell¹ device.

The rollout follows a successful trial at seven stores² and is the latest initiative M&S has launched to make shopping quicker and easier for everyone in the run up to Christmas. With each store operating a maximum capacity and carefully counting customers in via a bespoke app linked across all floors, Pay With Me will help to free up space for more customers to enter the store and start shopping.

How Pay With Me works

Colleagues pick out customers waiting in line to pay for just a few items and process the transaction for them using their handheld Honeywell device, which is fully Sparks-enabled and allows contactless (up to the usual £45 limit) and card payments (with no limit).

Customers can also pay using Apple Pay, which has recently been added as a payment option on M&S.com.

Pay With Me is available at 200 M&S stores and enables an M&S colleague to quickly process customer transactions via a handheld Honeywell¹ device.

Helen Milford, M&S Stores Director said:

'Throughout the year our teams have done a fantastic job of adapting quickly to serve our customers through challenging and changing circumstances. In preparation for Christmas, we have put in place extensive measures to make shopping quicker, easier and safer for everyone-from our longest ever opening hours through to digital queue busting solutions such as our new 'Pay with Me'-now in over 200 stores. In these final few days we're focused on delivering for our customers to help them make the most of their Christmas, however they might be celebrating.'

Queue Busting

M&S is pulling out all the stops to make shopping extra special this Christmas, doing everything it can to increase capacity and bust the queues for customers-so they can deliver the magic and sparkle for their loved ones. This includes:

• The 1,800-strong team of Magic Makers on hand to help customers and answer any queries. No M&S door will be seen without a Magic Maker this Christmas, with colleagues sashed-up and handpicked for the role due to their exemplary customer service skills.
  
  
• Festive tunnels installed outside each store to shelter customers from the winter weather, should there be a short queue. Decked out with QR codes, they link through to the M&S product developers' top picks for festive food to provide inspiration while customers wait.
  
  
• Offering M&S's longest-ever opening hours to help give customers more time and more confidence to shop this Christmas. Hours have gradually increased as Christmas approaches, with two-thirds (over 400 stores) of M&S's estate open until midnight across the busiest days of 21-23 December.
  
  
• Installing 1,000 brand-new self-service tills at 69 of its higher footfall stores and rolling out Scan & Shop to 30 stores (including Longbridge, as seen on TikTok) to help speed up the payment process for customers and make shopping easier for them.
  
  
• Expanding M&S's checkout-free technology Mobile Pay Go to every UK store, meaning customers all over the country can skip the queues and pay for their items using their smartphone. Customers scan items as they shop and leave the store without visiting a till, all via the M&S App. Mobile Pay Go is available at all UK M&S owned stores (573).
  
  
• Rolling out M&S's reservation-based shopping service Sparks Book & Shop, which allows customers to reserve a shopping slot at a time that suits them and removes the need to queue, should there be one. Over 350k slots have been booked by customers since launch in November.

All M&S stores continue to have robust cleaning processes in place and extensive signage to encourage customers to be kind, give everyone space & cover their face. For customers shopping online, M&S continues to offer contact-free delivery and free click & collect, no matter what you spend, to over 600 stores.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

1. Honeywell is the brand of handheld devices colleagues across M&S use to carry out store tasks - from counting customers into store to maintain their maximum capacity to managing inventory.
   
   
2. The seven stores to trial Pay With Me are: Kew, Epsom, Harrogate, White City, Cribbs Causeway, Biggleswade & Kinnaird Edinburgh. The full list of 200 stores offering the tech from today can be found below.
   
   

Pay With Me customer feedback

Here is a snapshot of Pay With Me feedback given by customers at the seven trial stores:

• 'It felt great to be pulled out of the queue. It definitely improved my shopping experience. I'm surprised other retailers aren't doing this.'
  
  
• 'Fantastic. Colleagues are so helpful, and the Queue Buster sash makes them clearly visible.'
  
  
• 'I can see why M&S has brought this in. It's quick, simple and easy to use. Perfect if, like me, you've only got a few items.'
  
  

About Pay With Me

• Transactions are completed via a colleague's handheld Honeywell device, which is fully Sparks-enabled and allows contactless and Apple Pay payments up to the usual £45 limit. There is no limit on card payments. Cash payments are not supported.
  
  
• The service was initially trialled at the following seven stores: Kew, Epsom, Harrogate, White City, Cribbs Causeway, Biggleswade and Kinnaird Edinburgh. After extensive positive feedback, M&S has today rolled out the service to 200 stores across the UK.
  
  
• Customers receive a full receipt, just like they would at a regular belted or self-service checkout.
  
  
• The service can be used both in M&S's Foodhalls and Clothing departments, however it will predominantly serve customers in the Foodhall due to their smaller sales area and maximum capacity, in line with social distancing regulations.
  
  

200 stores which offer Pay With Me

AINTREE
ANLABY HULL SF
ANNIESLAND SF
ARENA PARK COVENTRY
ARNISON CENTRE DURHAM
ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH
ASHTON MOSS
AYLESFORD SF
BALLYMENA
BARNSTAPLE
BASINGSTOKE
BECKENHAM SF
BEEHIVE CAMBRIDGE SF
BERKHAMSTED SF
BEXHILL
BIDSTON MOSS SF
BIGGLESWADE RETAIL PARK
BINLEY COVENTRY SF
BISHOPBRIGGS GLASGOW SF
BISHOPS STORTFORD
BLACKPOLE SF
BLUEWATER
BOGNOR REGIS
BOLTON
BRACKNELL LEXICON
BRAINTREE SF
BRENTWOOD
BRIDGWATER SF
BRISTOL EASTGATE
Brooklands
BROTHERHOOD PETERBOROUGH
BURNLEY
BURY ST EDMUNDS
CAMBERLEY
CANNOCK
CANTERBURY
CANVEY ISLAND SF
CASTLEPOINT
CHARLTON
CHELMSFORD
CHESHIRE OAKS
CHESHUNT
CHILWELL NOTTINGHAM SF
CHINEHAM SF
CLAPHAM
COLLIERS WOOD
CORBY SF
CORTONWOOD
COWLEY RD OXFORD SF
CRAIGAVON
CRAIGLEITH
CRAMLINGTON SF
CRANLEIGH SF
CRAWLEY
Cribbs Causeway
CROWNHILL PLYMOUTH SF
CROYDON
CRYSTAL PEAKS
CULVERHOUSE CROSS
CUMBERNAULD FH
DARTFORD SF
DERBY WESTFIELD
DIDCOT
DORKING
DOUGLAS
DUMFRIES
EAGLES MEADOW WREXHAM
EASTLEIGH
ECCLESALL ROAD SHEFFIELD SF
ELTHAM
ENNISKILLEN
EPPING SF
Epsom
EVESHAM SF
FALKIRK CENTRAL RP
FIFE CENTRAL RP
FLOWERDOWN
FORMBY SF
FOSSE PARK
GEMINI
GOSPORT
GRAND JUNCTION CREWE
GUILDFORD
GUISBOROUGH
GUISELEY SF
GYLE
HALIFAX
HANDFORTH
HARBORNE SF
Harrogate
HARTLEPOOL SF
HAVANT
HAYWARDS HEATH
HEDGE END
HEMPSTEAD VALLEY
HEREFORD
HUDDERSFIELD SIMPLY FOODS
HUNTINGDON
ILKESTON SF
INTERCHANGE BEDFORD.
IRVINE SF
KENDAL
KENTON BAR
Kew
KIDDERMINSTER
KINGSDITCH CHELTENHAM HOME FD
KINGSGATE EAST KILBRIDE SF
KINGSTON
KINGSTOWN CARLISLE
Kinnard - Edinburgh
KNARESBOROUGH
LAUNCESTON SF
LEAMINGTON
LEICESTER THURMASTON SF
LINCOLN TRITTON ROAD
LISBURN
LLANELLI PARC TROSTRE
LONDON COLNEY
LONGBRIDGE
LONGWATER NORWICH SF
LONGWELL GREEN BRISTOL
LOUGHBOROUGH SF
LOWESTOFT
MALVERN
MARTLESHAM HEATH SF
MAYBIRD STRATFORD U AVON SF
MAYFLOWER BASILDON
MEOLE BRACE SHREWSBURY SF
MERE GREEN SF
MERRYHILL
MERTHYR TYDFIL
METRO CENTRE
MIDDLEBROOK BOLTON
MOORTOWN LEEDS SF
NETHERFIELD NOTTINGHAM SF
NEWPORT IOW
NEWPORT RP
NORTHALLERTON NEW SF
NORTON COLLEGE SHEFFIELD SF
NORWICH
NOTTINGHAM GILTBROOK
OADBY SF
OMAGH
ORBITAL SWINDON
ORPINGTON NUGENT PARK
OSWESTRY SF
PINCHINGTON LANE NEWBURY SF
PINNER SF
PONTARDULAIS ROAD
PRINCES RISBOROUGH SF
PRINCESS PARK SF
PUDSEY
RAYLEIGH SF
REDHILL
ROYSTON
RUGBY ELLIOTTS
RUSHDEN LAKES
SCUNTHORPE RP
SELLY OAK
SHOREHAM
SHREWSBURY
SILVERLINK NEWCASTLE
SITTINGBOURNE
SIXFIELDS NORTHAMPTON SF
SOUTHAMPTON WEST QUAY
SOUTHEND
ST HELENS RAVENHEAD
STADIUM MILTON KEYNES
STAFFORD RIVERSIDE
STAINES - Relocation
STOCKTON HEATH
STRAITON RELOCATION
STROOD SF
SUNDERLAND
SUTTON
TAMWORTH
TAUNTON
TEESSIDE
TELFORD
THE SPRINGS LEEDS
THURROCK
TIVERTON SF
TOLWORTH SF
TORBAY
TROWBRIDGE SF
TUNBRIDGE WELLS
UPMINSTER SF
VANGARDE MONKS
WALTON ON NAZE
WEDNESBURY
Welwyn Garden City
WEST PARK
WESTON LOCK BATH SF
WESTWAY CHELMSFORD SF
WESTWOOD CROSS
WHEATLEY HALL ROAD DONCASTER SF
WHETSTONE SF
White City
WHITELEY VILLAGE FAREHAM
WOLSTANTON STOKE
WORKINGTON
YEOVIL