British apparel retailer New Look is using a new iPhone app to help foster in-store activity and drive incremental sales. 

New Look launched a new app for iPhone and iPod touch that offers fashion and lifestyle content, special offers and bar code scanning. It joins the retailer’s mobile site, which was introduced earlier this year and has produced strong results. The app is available for free download in Apple’s App Store.

“The application is an opportunity to enhance the experience for iPhone users to give additional functionality namely in the form of a bar code scanner to give users more information in-store around stock,” said David Balko, client services director at Mobile Interactive Group, London.

“Overall, this is about a more personal content led experience,” he said.

“Mobile provides additional sales and the ability to create experiences that enhance the overall shopping experience and the ability to give customers a stronger, more powerful bond to brands.”

New Look has 613 stores in Britain and Ireland, a transactional Web site and 305 Mim stores in France. There are also 27 New Look stores in France and Belgium as well as franchise stores in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Daily fashion alert
The New Look app and mobile site were developed by Mobile Interactive Group.

Since its introduction earlier this year, sales through New Look’s mobile site are up 500 percent and site visits are ahead by 800 percent.

The app complements the mobile site by combining the strengths of an optimized mobile site with the impact of an application to enhance the customer experience.

It also provides a bridge to the New Look mobile commerce-enabled site.

Content includes a daily fashion alert called New Look Daily that offers users magazine-style experience featuring fashion advice and information.

The app also features exclusive offers which users can share via Facebook and Twitter.

Users can take advantage of the app’s bar code scanner once they are in a store to access more information about products. Users can check whether items are available in a specific size or color by connecting to the New Look mobile commerce site, which opens within the application.

Additionally, there is a store-locater feature to help customers find the nearest shop.

The application will be promoted in-store, through the App Store and on Web and mobile content.

“We believe the app gives New Look customers a unique ability to browse the entire product ranges, see content from all of the New Look feeds as well as the ability to learn more about products in-store using the bar code scanner,” Mr. Balko said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York