The Internet is NOT the greatest threat to physical retailing

The Internet is an easy target to blame for the woes of retailers, but when 62.1% of 11,000 consumers surveyed stated that UK retailers were not working hard enough to create a shopping experience worth the time and cost of visiting their stores, there is good reason to look in the mirror.

Customer service

 

Customer service – surely an absolute top priority for any retailer, yet of those same people polled, 43% felt that customer service had deteriorated in the past 10 years. This in part is due to our (consumers) levels of expectation rising, and also due to technology permitting some retailers, who take advantage of it, to offer an exemplary service.

However, it is unfortunately still common place to find yourself in a store, with an intention to make a purchase, only to be either ignored by staff or receive indifferent service. A good product, being sold in a superbly fitted shop, in a unit that’s in a prime retail pitch, in a location that offers a great micro environment with good access and good parking can all be evaporated by poor service.

Relevence

 

Another vastly influencing factor in success is relevance – former darling of the high street, Philip Green has shown what happens when you lose sight of who your customer is; what they want and what sort of environment they want to shop in. Debenhams have been another victim of this lack of relevance, which when mixed with having no point of difference and failing to see the warning signs of the changes in shopping habits which started back in about 2006 with the launch of the iPhone, at the very same time when Debenhams announced that it intended to double its store size, adding huge costs but sadly not adding the required sales.

Whilst there is no denying that online sales have been, and will continue to be, a hugely competing receptacle for our disposable income, as it ticks the ‘friction v reward’ box so effectively, but it needs to be realised that £4 in every £5 spent in retail, is still spent in physical stores.

Independent retailer

 

A sector that is, on the whole, taking full advantage of this situation is the independent retailer who is able to offer a unique experience even if it’s simply a greeting of "Hello – nice to see you again". In an age where we are largely on ‘stuff’ overload, we need the good experience first in order to part with money before buying more ‘stuff’. Towns and villages which offer a critical mass of these types of retailer, and which often have other attractions to offer (architecture, culture, events) are outperforming (based on vacancy rates) the more homogenous larger towns and shopping centres.