For many years, the Internet has been regarded as the greatest threat to the high street, but the emergence of mobile as an effective way to link the online channel with stores is leading to a positive re-appraisal of the role of physical outlets.

This was the message delivered by a number of speakers at the recent Retail Bulletin Multi-Channel Summit 2012.  Neil Lewis, head of new channel development at Marks & Spencer, told delegates: "Mobile is very important as customers can go into stores and read reviews, scan barcodes, receive and send SMS and read emails. It will therefore help join the channels in the future - so it will be key."

2ergo's very owno Mobile Guru Nik Maquire went further, stating: "Mobile will become inreasingly important to multi-channel communications - it is the saviour of the high street. E-commerce was all about buying online, whereas mobile has been the evolution of this - with the ability to do price comparisons and look at reviews on mobile devices - and this has brought the online journey back into retailers' stores."

Let us know your views as we are currently preparing a new whitepaper to prove how mobile really is the saviour of the high street.

Read a full summary topics discussed at the Multi-Channel Summit