There are a number of contradictions to the headlines we鈥檝e seen in recent years around in-store shopping. One moment, we鈥檙e hearing about the 鈥渄eath of the high street鈥� caused by online shopping and the next we鈥檙e told that . The high street is far from dead, but it is undoubtedly changing. And the retail shutdown in response to the COVID-19 crisis 鈥� both here in the U.K. and around the world 鈥� brings this into sharp focus.
I live in a small rural town in the south of England. It鈥檚 a typical town with many high street premises either vacant or occupied by charity shops, coffee shops, pound shops and betting shops. Though I have no issue with any of these specifically, their domination leaves little else. Various local independent shops have sprung up, but most don鈥檛 thrive, and most are gone within a year.
But I, and many like me, are the cause of the problem. I buy more from Amazon and the like than I care to remember, often overlooking the local high street and those local entrepreneurs who bring variety and inspiration to the community. They need customers like me.
Are local initiatives enough?
Several regional programs have attempted to support the high street in the past. Bristol Pounds encouraged local spending with its own currency, keeping trade within the city and stimulating local economic growth. Though there were signs of some success, the cost of administering it contributed to its demise. Changes in business rates have also been designed to support the high street 鈥� success has been limited here too.
But ultimately, what you get on your high street is what you deserve 鈥� what you demand and support. Artificial encouragements, like Bristol Pounds, are not long-term viable solutions. Evolving social attitudes towards your local high street and your community, and subsequent behavior, is the answer. If you visit your high street, spend there and support your local shops 鈥� particularly those independents 鈥� then those establishments will be there for you.
The Co-op鈥檚 Membership program provides a good example of harnessing the renewed focus on community: the symbiotic relationship between a retailer at the heart of the community and the people who are the community. A portion of member spend in local stores is redistributed to members for discounted shopping in the future and to local causes. The member community gets to decide what those causes are, and .
Could COVID-19 reinvigorate the high street?
The COVID-19 crisis is keeping us away from our high streets and local retailers right now, while at the same time causing many people to re-think their relationship with their local community. We鈥檝e all seen media coverage of the severe impact that trading restrictions are having on our local businesses and economy, while at the same time some pureplay online businesses are thriving.
When the current restrictions ease and some degree of normality returns, there鈥檚 likely to be a pent-up desire to shop and spend. Combined with a more community-minded spirit, which is arising as we support one another in our local collaborative fights against the pandemic, a renewed appreciation of our local high streets may also emerge.
A number of my local restaurants have quickly pivoted their businesses to serve customers outside of their premises and tailors have gone from making dresses to making and distributing face masks. We really are all in this together. The engagement of local high street businesses with the community could drive lasting local loyalty 鈥� and an appreciation for the high street that many may have previously taken for granted.
Shopping malls require marquee anchor tenants like John Lewis to guarantee footfall, which then attracts other retailers to take up rental space. It鈥檚 the same principle for high streets; if people shop more on their doorstep, the snowball effect will lead to more and better shops being there 鈥� a mixture of brand names and independents feeding customers to each other.
Necessity is the mother of (retail) re-invention
It might be true that you don鈥檛 know what you鈥檝e got until it鈥檚 gone, but people can have surprisingly short memories. For high street retailers to capitalize on the opportunity and secure long-term loyalty, they鈥檒l need to rethink how they serve their customers.
To some extent this is already happening; the COVID-19 crisis has forced many small independents to find ways to start selling online 鈥� and quickly. Digital transformation isn鈥檛 an abstract concept here, it鈥檚 now something to be done within days or weeks to ensure businesses can keep trading. But some of these stop-gap measures could 鈥� and should 鈥� become part of a more permanent shift. In essence, some businesses have undergone omni-channel transformation in fast-forward mode, whether it鈥檚 bookshops opening static websites with orders placed via email and packages hand-delivered, local restaurants supplying ready-made meals to the community supermarket or the local bike shop enabling a basic form of click-and-collect to facilitate home repairs. Long term, these businesses should consider how to implement technology and solutions (whether it鈥檚 inventory management, payments or fraud prevention) that support these new models.
Local businesses that continue to trade in difficult circumstances, often selflessly, need to remind customers that they were there for them and all need to foster a 鈥渟hop locally鈥� community spirit, as even some larger brands like The Co-op have done. Perhaps this is the time for even the small independents on the high street to look at better use of eCommerce 鈥� buy-online-pick-up-curbside and delivery-from-store might be new omni-channel customer journeys, born out of a pandemic, but becoming part of local shopping aided by new found community spirit.
It just might be that because of COVID-19, reports of the death of the high street may have been greatly exaggerated.
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