Retail has to evolve - it's meant to be the place you can experience a product and talk to real people, where someone who knows more than you will help you. Some of our high-street brands have forgotten this. It's a very basic principle - it's called service.
Good retail should deliver service that gets talked about (when was the last time you told someone else about a good retail experience?) as well as providing product knowledge you can't find online and an interest in you as a potential purchaser that it's impossible (at the moment) to deliver virtually.
Yes, many households are under extreme financial pressures and that will take its toll on all spending beyond the essentials. Yes, commercial landlords' rent expectations, out-of-town shopping centres, parking issues and poor town planning all contribute too.
However, the sector needs to take a good look at itself and stop viewing customers as an annoyance, but, rather, as the very thing that will keep them afloat now and thriving in the future.
MAYBE - MARK TRINDER, COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR, COMMERCIAL AND ONLINE, ITV
The phenomenal growth of the supermarkets, out-of-town retail parks and online shopping, alongside high rents and a 'flat' economy with low consumer confidence, has meant the high street is under intense pressure.
Those retailers, generally medium-sized, that have a very specific offering and operate in categories that are either overpopulated or catered for by supermarkets and internet firms, are in a cul de sac. Potentially, we'll see two main groups emerge on the high street: first, small independents with a local feel and positioning; second, major national and/or international brands.
The first group has the opportunity for and potential consumer acceptance of premium pricing and 'healthy' margins, whereas the second tends to focus on volume to cover low margins. There has been an aggressive rise of permanent promotional offers to try to maintain sales volumes. This has affected margins in all categories. Only very big operators have managed this - smaller businesses will continue to struggle.
NO - NICK DAVIES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, EMO
I believe the high street still has a prosperous future - but only if brands become more sensitive to local context.
'Localisation' feels like a chore to many; time-consuming, expensive, lots of effort for little return. In reality, granular, localised strategies that engage local audiences in a relevant and involving way win hands down.
Why now? Ever-improving data, digital and media tools make mapping and local search, social and event activity more cost-effective. Strategies built around priority postcodes, rather than regional buys, should be the norm.
Brands think national, but customers have little tolerance of brands that don't 'live' where they do. Local sales data proves that consumers reward brands that get involved with community issues in meaningful ways.
Localised marketing can turn a store around, create cut-through, defend against new competition, pull niche audiences closer and deliver community partnerships. We can't save them all, but can certainly save the high street.
NO - SCOTT MORRISON, MARKETING DIRECTOR, UK & IRELAND, DIESEL
There has always been, and always will be, a need for the high street. When you speak to consumers, there is always a significant portion who want to touch, feel, try on and experience product.
However, several factors have led to a major shake up in high-street retail. Overall, the UK is saturated and over-shopped - rising costs, the push into non-food by supermarkets and the growth of online mean we are seeing the survival of the fittest. Brands on the high street are either 'thriving, surviving or diving' and the squeeze, as ever, is hitting the middle market hardest.
Beyond the economic factors, consumer behaviour is fundamentally and rapidly changing. Those retailers that can anticipate and adapt their businesses accordingly will continue to have a bright future. While the high street, as we know it, has changed forever, this will lead to a stronger and leaner British tradition.
MAYBE - STEPHEN BISSET, HEAD OF PLANNING, EHS 4D
Desperate retailers are starting summer sales early in a bid to kick-start a moribund High Street" . . . "A sector erasing profits and jobs continues apace" scream the headlines.
While in real terms spending is down 0.6% in 2011, hitting profits, this is a diversion from the real threat. Over 50% of purchases are researched online; recommendations and "likes" are highly trusted. Social is mainstream.
Online shopping - mobile included, from Apple to Android – means that searching, comparing and buying is not just simple, but fun too. E-commerce has innovated.
Google’s stated intention to close the search/aggregator loop by moving into e-commerce will drive further rapid innovation from the likes of Amazon.
The "High Street" should be worried. But not panicking. They need to give their customers a great retail experience. It’s possible – from Daunt to Mulberry there are success stories. For too long, content and engagement innovation has been the preserve of the online space.
Retailers who fight back through understanding and exploiting new technologies to enable customers to engage with the brand and products more deeply will not just survive, but prosper.
Stephen Bisset, head of planning EHS 4D
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