Style Online is a first for Northwich (From Northwich Guardian)

Style Online is a first for Northwich

12:00pm Wednesday 19th September 2012 in News By Emma Rigby

AS a self-confessed shopaholic, there’s nothing more irritating than ordering a gorgeous frock online, only for it to arrive and look completely different than it did onscreen.

Imagine my delight when I heard that Marks & Spencer had launched a new shopping experience to combat just that – with the Northwich store being one of the first in the UK to offer it!

The cutting edge ‘Style Online’ area can now be found at the back of the Leicester Street store, with dedicated advisors on hand to help customers try out the store’s latest feature.

Kirsty Williams, manager of the Northwich store, said: “We want to give our customers more choice and help them envisage how the latest trends might work for them.

“The new Style Online boutique allows us to do exactly that – making it easy and fun for customers to shop all of the seasons’ key looks direct from our store.”

Using large interactive touchscreens, I was able to browse the seasons’ latest key trends, and pick out my favourite items to create a complete outfit with the ‘Outfit Builder’ tool.

The dedicated boutique area uses multi-media technology to provide its customers with style inspiration, and allows them to browse and order from the full M&S fashion range.

The Style Online advisors were able to explain how selected items can be ordered and delivered straight to my front door, or collected for free in-store – bonus!

The best part is that the store now boasts product samples of the latest Limited Collection and Autograph ranges, available for customers to see and feel before they buy – combating my grievance with online shopping.

Regulars to the Northwich branch will know that Limited Collection and Autograph items aren’t readily available in the store, and so this new addition makes finding that perfect Saturday night outfit all the more simple.

The service also complements the existing items in store, by making the full M&S women’s, men’s and homeware ranges available to customers in Northwich.

There’s just one downside to this new state-of-the-art shopping experience - I might have to buy another wardrobe!