Rumour has it that mobile could be on the verge of helping the high street to take back the top spot when it comes to preferred retail experiences. Many in the industry are arguing that while mobile is growing fast, with sales doubling in 2013 to £3bn according to Consultancy Capgemini, stores on the high street should embrace the technology and use it to their advantage, rather than panic.

Alan Gabbay, founder of local product finder app Udozi, believes that brick and mortar stores still have a place in the digital retail era as they continue to be the preferred shopping experience by many consumers and that in store mobile devices can work with stores to enhance the experience further. “Mobile devices can harness the best of both worlds – mixing the benefits of the high street shopping with the ease of shopping online. That’s why I believe hat mobile if used properly as part of an integrated multi-channel strategy, has the potential to be the high street’s most powerful weapon yet”, he says.

One of the latest businesses to take a digital approach in store is Oliver Bonas, the fashion and homeware retailer, starting with a trial of shop based tablets and click-and-collect. The tablets will work off wifi and act as a mobile till to showcase Oliver Bonas’ full product range. Oliver Bonas founder Oliver Tress said: “The biggest single growth opportunity is online. It offers us diversification opportunities. There’s no limit to your geography or shelf length.  Where we can’t fit something into shops, we can put it online.”

With brick and mortar stores having the unique ability to showcase products in person and allow consumers to interact with both the product and staff, Toby Richards, planning director at direct and digital agency Publicis Chemistry, believes technology can and should add to the shopping experience. “It’s not just about product, but the whole brand and shopper promise. For some it’s about instant convenience, such as click and collect, while for others it can be about showcasing a new range to discover, where technology can help locate the product and point of sale marketing communications can play an active role in and out of store,” he said.

Other exclusive offerings that stores are advised to look into in order to retain and attract customers, with and without using technology, are: selling unique products that can’t be bought elsewhere, introducing price matching to keep customers in store should you have in-exclusive products, improving the service in store to provide a sought after physical experience, encouraging the use of mobile devices in store by providing free wifi but importantly promoting your own app and therefore products, and using social media to highlight positive store reviews.

Crucially, retailers are also reminded that mobile sales do not necessarily come at a lost to in store sales. Research by eBay [IRDX REBY] and Deloitte across 21 leading retailers in the UK dress market and German white goods market, suggests that for every £100 spend online, only £5 is being taken away from UK high street retailers. The study shows that for leading retailers who sell across multiple channels, over 95% of online dress sales in the UK are additional to high street sales. These statistics are mirrored by results in the German white goods market, where 98% of online sales are additional for retailers.