Imagine a world where you can’t choose your own shopping! Until 1947 you had to ask a customer assistant to select and pack every item of your shopping for you.
In 1947 M&S trialled self-service food shopping. The experiment at the Wood Green store in London was a great success and by the 1950s M&S self-service sections were a normal part of shopping. New packaging was introduced and admired by customers for keeping the food fresh and clean. To help people understand the new system, M&S produced a leaflet with simple hints for successful shopping (see Resources).
A report on the experiment concluded that:
“In the initial stages the novelty element in this method of trading produced widely differing reactions on the part of customers. Most customers were intrigued by the ease with which they obtained their purchases, and the additional supplies available undoubtedly helped to create a favourable impression.
A small proportion resented the regimentation involved in taking a special basket in which to collect purchases, and many were very critical of the delay occasioned by having to queue at the “check-out” to pay for them. Many customers, however, realised that this involved less time than would normally have been absorbed in queueing for the purchase of the short supply lines which they obtained.”
Customers commented:
“This system cuts my shopping time down by 11/2 hours.”
“Didn’t like it at first, but think it’s a good system now.”
Self-service food shopping became widespread, and although there were huge changes in the types of food we could buy, there were no significant changes in how we shopped for food until the 2000s. In the Autumn of 2002, a new Self Check Out Till (SCOT) was trialled in three M&S stores. The new tills allowed customers to scan, pack and pay for their shopping entirely on their own, a first in the UK (other retailers had self-scan systems but payment had to be made through a staffed till).
More convenience for customers came in 2019 when M&S and Ocado teamed up to offer home delivery of M&S Food products. For the first time customers could buy their M&S food shopping online and have it delivered to their door.
To make shopping even quicker, M&S launched Mobile Pay Go in 2020, customers could now scan products and pay using their phones without visiting a check-out. This became part of Scan & Shop in 2021. Scan & Shop includes all the ways customers can use M&S digital payment options, including scanning and paying with mobile phones or using hand-held scanners in-store.