Aurora fashions increases omnichannel offering

Aurora Fashions is to enable customers shopping at its Coast,

Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen stores to pay by PayPal using their mobile phones.

A PayPal inStore app, available for Android and Apple devices, will provide customers with a unique barcode and transaction number, which the shop cashier will scan to take payment from the customer’s PayPal account. Payments, refunds and discounts will all be managed via the app.

Ish Patel, group omnichannel director at Aurora Fashions, said: "Customers demand more from physical stores: outstanding service and a more personalised experience enabled by new technology. Catering for payment flexibility is a now a crucial part of ensuring we are providing customers with a seamless experience by merging digital commerce with physical retailing.

"Our partnership with PayPal allows us to take the next step in our omnichannel journey, ensuring customers can safely and securely purchase items using their own mobile phones. We’re proud to be innovating on the UK high street and continuing to lead the way in providing a new kind of shopping experience."

Cameron McLean, managing director, PayPal UK, added: "The lines between the online world and high street will soon disappear altogether: research we carried out last year amongst major retailers suggested that 2016 will be the year you won’t need a wallet to shop on the British high street. A phone will be enough.

"Today's move also underlines our view that mobile payments don't need near field communication (NFC) technology to succeed. PayPal’s ‘pay by mobile’ service works with the phones most of our customers already own. And our retail partner doesn't have to install new systems to take in-store mobile payments."