SHOPS MUST OFFER UNIQUE EXPERIENCE TO SURVIVE ON THE HIGH STREET

A leading retail marketing expert says shops need to offer customers something unique if they are to survive the radical transformation hitting UK high streets.

With British Retail Consortium data showing the UK high street suffered its sharpest drop in shopper numbers for two years in January, and higher numbers of empty shops in the North West of England and Stockport,  Dr Dacko, associate professor of marketing & strategic management at Warwick Business School, believes the high street will survive, it is just undergoing a transformation.

Dacko said: “There is so much online competition, stores need to differentiate themselves to survive. On the one hand they need to be seamlessly integrated with their online offerings. And at the same time they need to offer something different in their stores. It is too easy for consumers to make price comparisons these days, so it makes sense that stores look to make themselves different.

“They can do that by emphasising local needs, which could be the bakery or butchers using locally sourced food. Or they can offer a unique ambience, a unique shopping experience, Wi-Fi, high quality products or service. They could offer exceptional value like the 99p stores or click and collect.”

Dr Dacko also believes the UK high street will see more and more shops become depots, where they become places for shoppers to collect items they have bought online.

“Over the very long term a number of shops will increasingly become like hubs or depots where it is convenient for people to pick up orders placed online,” said Dr Dacko. ”Clearly we are seeing that ‘click and collect’ is growing in use as we have seen with the recent success Argos has had.”

Dr Dacko believes retailers have to be smart to make sure their shops not only offer something unique but dovetails with their online presence. He added: “These companies that have gone to the wall recently have not been sufficiently adept with their marketing strategies. For one thing, many have not had a sufficient online impact, which is increasingly vital.”

Source: Warwick Business School