British high streets are in crisis. The three most affected areas are Stockport, Nottingham and Grimsby with the North West as a whole the worst affected and it is estimated that 2011 saw 20 shops close every day in the UK.
It all sounds very ominous and even though retail guru Mary Portas has outlined measures she claims will put the high street back on the road to recovery, it is unlikely to be a speedy one. Despite this, last week saw the announcement that consumer spending was up 0.9%, the strongest monthly growth since the Royal Wedding (April 2011).
The growth was attributed to heavy discounting from the high street, a tactic which can only be short lived when competing with online retailers. Inevitably, if retailers aren’t surviving on the high street they have to rely more and more on their online presence. Brands such as Zavvi, Woolworths and Littlewoods have all left the high street yet with new owners the three have continued to operate with an online presence.
Encouragingly there are online businesses using the high street to boost traffic and build trust with new customers. For example, eBay created a pop-up store in London before Christmas; Amazon recently announced it will be opening its first store in the US to help build its relationship with Kindle users. Kiddicare, Morrison’s online baby superstore, recently announced its move to the high street, with Kiddicare COO Simon Harrow heralding their ‘unique destination store shopping’.
Offering bargain prices has clearly worked for the high street at the beginning of 2012 but whether the high street can continue to give consumers a reason to swap convenience for an experience remains to be seen.
Imme Jones
Local Market Analyst
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