Are consumers headed to the high street for Christmas?
Category
š
NewsTranscript
00:00 "The reality is the success or failure of High Street impacts everybody. And so this
00:07 is not about one person or one company, this is about an opportunity for everybody to play
00:16 a role."
00:17 With the loss of High Street's staple department stores like House of Fraser and Debenhams,
00:22 the British High Street seems to undergo a cycle of constant change. Now, as we enter
00:26 December and conquer Christmas shopping, we enter the annual golden period for said High
00:31 Street. According to new data from Nationwide Building Society, 58% of people prefer to
00:36 shop local in order to support their community. With this in mind, how does the High Street
00:40 continue to change and what is in store for it?
00:43 "So a lot of the big brands disappearing from High Street now need to be filled by a new
00:48 generation of High Street entrepreneurs with access to the space and support they need
00:54 to be successful. When we think about the biggest spaces on the High Street, the Debenhams,
01:01 the House of Fraser, these huge empty department stores, they now need to be reimagined into
01:09 new destinations, new anchors for the High Street of the future. These are a whole range
01:15 of different offerings that meet the needs of that particular local community, whether
01:20 that's indoor food markets or whether it's experiential, whole new kind of experiences
01:29 being brought into High Streets. And in a lot of cases, it's opportunities for lots
01:34 of brands to sell together."
01:37 With the rise in online shopping, take Cyber Monday for example, it's easy to see how footfall
01:42 in High Streets may lower when the convenience of online shopping seems so prevalent. So
01:46 how does the online shopping sphere affect High Street shopping and could it be more
01:51 beneficial than expected?
01:52 "Digital first brands, online retailers who have been looking to set up on the High Street
01:58 and it's a big trend. Asos launched their first pop-up two weeks ago and you'll find
02:05 that as you look down the online retailers who are doing the most sales online, almost
02:14 invariably they have High Street in their strategy. From Amazon investing in 12 different
02:21 concept stores through to early stage e-commerce businesses and deciding that being an omni-channel
02:29 online and offline business was a part of their future. So I think you'll find that
02:33 actually the internet is a part of the solution for independent businesses, whether they're
02:40 big or small, but in a lot of cases, so is High Street.
02:43 "High Street is not just for Christmas, but we do have this golden quarter in this
02:47 industry where footfall jumps, where people spend more time and more money on their High
02:53 Streets. But we've got a different High Street this year and over the last recent
03:00 years than we've had historically."