Evolution of Retailers and Retail Services?

In the past I have written about blurring lines between Retail Services and other vertical services such as Financial Services. As conventional retailers come under more and more pressure from shrinking economic climate they are bound to explore this trend. This will see they expanding into not just multi-channel but genuine growth of their portfolio into other verticals. Latest indication of this happening is the news that leading UK retailer M&S launching their banking services. M&S Bank will open more than 50 branches over the next two years, with the first debuting next month at Marks & Spencer's flagship Marble Arch store. The Bank will offer a current account by autumn.

The fashion and food retailer will target customers with a new current account in the autumn in an attempt to make banking more convenient for its shoppers and encourage them to spend more on M&S products. The bank will be run in collaboration with HSBC, which has owned M&S Money since 2004 and takes a 50 per cent share of profits. M&S, which has 3m customers across a range of credit cards, loans, savings and insurance products, would not reveal whether it planned to charge for current accounts but said it would reward customer loyalty. Talking to the FT, Colin Kersley, chief executive of M&S Bank said, “There won’t be much point banking here if [people] don’t shop here.”

Will other retailers follow in M&S footsteps? Probably they will await the outcome of this experiment before embarking on their own similar adventures, I think.