RS Components has launched a service that provides customers with instant access to its 250,000-plus products via any Web-enabled mobile device, such as a mobile phone. The service, thought to be the first of its type from a business-to-business distributor, allows users to check stock availability and pricing in real time, to place orders, and to opt to collect from their local trade counter, if they prefer.

To use the RS Mobile service, customers simply enter rswww.com into their phone’s browser. The service is designed to be viewed on any Web-enabled PDA, cellular device or Web tablet.
 
Ordering is said to be simple and secure. Customers can search for products and add them to a shopping cart. Registered RS Web site users can log in and place orders on the mobile site. Alternatively, users can click on a Call RS Orders link and their mobile device will dial the RS orders line, allowing them to place the order verbally.
 
The service means that maintenance engineers will be able to search for products and place orders wherever they are. “Our focus is to make our customers’ jobs easier,” explains Nik Patel, marketing manager for e-commerce at RS.

The service is available in 17 languages across 80 countries. According to RS, 13% of the UK population already accesses the Internet regularly via mobile devices and there are signs that mobile Internet access will eventually supersede traditional PC access.