The British Independent Retailers Association (bira) recently hosted a conference dedicated to the high street, addressing the issues currently affecting it, with inspiring and informative presentations and talks from its delegates. The day brought about some lively topical debate – the question of how to keep the high street alive at its core. Furniture News’ Victoria Noakes takes a closer look into some of the major talking points of the conference ...
The concern of how best to sustain and improve the high street is one that has been subject to much deliberation of late, and can seem to stir up more questions than it answers. With factors such as the internet, out-of-town retail centres and high parking rates posing a constant threat, it is difficult to see how the high street can thrive.
However, in an ever-changing world of technology and fast-paced modern-day living, the desire for real-life social interaction is becoming increasingly apparent. The high street and independent retailers have the capability of catering to the most basic human need for contact through a personal, all-round shopping experience which cannot necessarily be replicated online or in large-chain retail outlets.
Deryane Tadd, owner of successful St Albans-based fashion retail brand The Dressing Room highlighted how independent high street shops can offer an enhanced, unique retail experience through staff spending more time assessing the needs of their customers. The act of treating the customer as the priority encourages a sense of trust and loyalty for a retail brand and draws visitors back to the high street.
Deryane shared her experience of the effectiveness of hosting exclusive events, initiatives and promotions in engaging with customers in person, making them feel a part of the brand and at the forefront of its decisions. In addition, the importance of having the right staff who are comprehensively trained to meet customer demands fully and keeping the in-store experience fresh and inspiring by regularly refreshing the layout and stock were emphasised.
With a strong background in retail, Beth Ward – now MD of Tippey Marketing and town team special adviser for Yorkshire, Humber and the North-east – explained how thinking of the high street as a destination rather than a collection of separate individual shops will help to create more of a community-like feel, allowing towns to work as a collective to ultimately improve the high street.
By working together to identify the target audience of their towns and getting involved in local initiatives and events, businesses have the capability to rapidly increase the appeal of their high street and draw in a larger crowd. Totally Locally initiatives, which concentrate on increasing awareness of independent businesses in different towns, are an ideal example of this point in action. This free marketing and branding campaign has now been used in several towns across the UK with the help of the zeal and passion of the towns’ inhabitants.
With the rise of the internet, it is easy to fear for the future of bricks and mortar stores. Although a matter of contention, it would be pointless to deny the influence of the online world in modern-day retailing, and how it caters to the desire for immediacy, convenience and seemingly endless browsing facilities. The issue of how the internet and the high street can work together in harmony was widely addressed at the conference.
Warren Knight, a social commerce expert and owner of Gloople – an online service which helps small companies create online stores – gave insight into how businesses can benefit greatly from the internet, with the platform it provides to share the story of a brand and to interact with consumers via social media. With Facebook ideal for competitions, Twitter great for informal chats, Pinterest a hub for fashion, design and trends, and blogs suitable for wider insights, these outlets are collectively comprehensive.
According to Warren, social commerce sales are likely to reach $30b a year by 2015, with 50% of web sales occurring through social media. What is more, it is estimated that SMEs are losing around £300 a year by not having an online presence, which roughly amounts to £13b. It seems, then, that building social media interactions into the day-to-day running of a retail store and allowing staff to engage online is becoming increasingly imperative.
The general consensus at the conference was that in order for our high streets to progress, businesses must be willing to embrace change and adapt. The benefits of the internet in terms of the publicity with which it affords a business are hard to deny. Rather than thinking of the online world and physical stores as distinct entities, a direct positive correlation can be achieved between the two, which need not compromise the integrity and humanness of the high street.
