Gloomy predictions about the future of the high street have been a common theme in the news over the last few years. A host of well-known brands are either gone or seem to be struggling against the modern shopper’s thirst for online options.

In the past year alone, high street stores covering a vast range of sectors have closed completely, from Maplin to Toys R Us. It seems time, then, to ask if the high street is really doomed and what, if anything, can be done about it?

The Closures and The Struggles

The first sign for many that the high street might not be as healthy as it once was came back in 2008, when high street stalwart Woolworths unexpectedly announced closure of all of its 807 storefronts. The result was job losses of 27,000 and a public wondering if this was a sign of things to come or simply the result of Woolworths failure to adapt to a modern marketplace. It turns out the answer could actually be both.

Since then, the UK high street has seen small spikes of reprieve, but internet shopping has only become more popular. This has resulted in an attendant, large drip in high street profits. In the last year alone, Maplin, Toys R Us, Mothercare, Prezzo and Carpetright have all closed, showing how the high street crisis reaches across all kinds of businesses. Within the last month, Poundworld has announced the appointment of administrators, and House of Fraser has outlined the need to close stores and cut costs. Only in the last week has New Look revealed a £243 million loss for the last financial year.

BDO, which monitors high street sales month to month, revealed that high street sales were down in May 2018 by 2.2 percent over last year, showing that it is now 8 months since like-for-like sales have grown by 1-percent or more.

The Possible Solutions

Business rates are a big area of contention currently, and a lowering could have real benefits. Labour has repeatedly stated that the business rates system is unfair and penalises brick and mortar stores, whilst online retailers are largely unaffected. The government increased business rates back in April – for the second time in two years. The major issue is that major online retailers like Amazon use out of town warehouses, which have much lower property values that city centre retailers. This has led many business leaders to point out the issue and decry it as unfair.

Beyond this, high street businesses will have to focus their attention on the online market, hoping they can offer in-house deals and service that will tempt online shoppers away from super-sized retailers like Amazon. High street retailers will have to get serious about their online offerings, or they may have nothing to offer at all. 

If your retail business needs a retail overdraft to help finance your growth plans, contact us to find out how we can help.

Recent news has made grim reading for high street retailers, with one in ten high street stores standing empty and, seemingly, no light at the end of the tunnel.

Footfall has continued to drop through March and April and consumer spending is on track for its worst performance in six years. Many would be forgiven for thinking that perhaps the end of bricks-and-mortar retail is nigh.

However, for those looking to fight against the ongoing dip and rejuvenate, there is hope.  

Personalised Engagement

Businesses operating on the high street must face the issue of online purchasing and why the spending public is so enamoured with it. They need to understand that people like convenience and they like a range of choice. But retailers can use this in their favour.

With this in mind, providing a personalised customer experience is paramount to high street survival. If shoppers are looking for in-depth knowledge and bespoke customer care, then that is what is needed. Providing this level of attention and knowledge is what will separate superior retailers from their competition – high street and online.

Post-Purchase Care

In order to survive and flourish, high street retailers need to think beyond numbers through the door and purchases. Building trust and a relationship post-purchase is an invaluable tool for the public-facing business.

At their core, shoppers like knowing they are in good hands. Great knowledge and attentiveness are brilliant tools to build a brand bond, but so is after care. Shoppers need to know that their post-purchase needs are just as important to a retailer as their pre-purchase requirements. Offering top-line return policies and a caring attitude are strong methods for building a relationship between retailer and shopper.

Buyer Persona

The reason many retailers struggle on the high street is that they’re not really sure who it is they are trying to attract. Knowing your buyer’s persona feeds through into all areas of operations, from branding to stock.

Defining age, income range, product preferences, gender and other factors can go a long way toward making it clearer just who a retailer’s prime market is. From this flows the needed adjustments and changes to ensure this shopper becomes a repeat customer. At its core, retail comes down to understanding, engaging and tailoring the shopping experience to the right person.

Buying a shop has both benefits and drawbacks for new business owners.

It’s a fair bet that if the previous shop owner has reaped success with the location you may also fare well and often there will be trained staff and suppliers already established, quickly removing some of the obstacles for you and allowing you to pick up and continue to run a successful business.

This blog offers insights about where businesses should look for stores as well as things to consider before agreeing to rent or purchase a premises for a retail business.

Where to look for shops for sale

The internet is your greatest resource when it comes to sourcing a worthy shop location. There are a number of online directories that you can use, all of which will allow you to search using specific criteria such as business sector, asking price and location. Some of the best are as follows:

-  Daltons Business, www.daltonsbusiness.com/buy/retailbusinesses-for-sale

-  BusinessesForSale.com,  http://uk.businessesforsale.com

-  RightBiz, www.rightbiz.co.uk

Factors to consider

Once you’ve found a shop that seems ideal and meets important elements of your criteria, it’s important that you consider certain factors that could have an impact on the success of your business.

Why is the shop up for sale?

There are a number of reasons why a particular premises may have gone up for sale and you need to be careful to consider ones that will adversely impact your business. For example, if the previous owner is selling because of nearby competition that is negatively affecting their business, you will want to assess whether this competition is going to continue to challenge the business.

What about competitors?

You’ll need to consider both the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and also find out if there are any plans for large retail parks to be built in the area any time soon.

Profits of the business

It’s important that you find out whether the profits for the business have been consistent over the years that it has been operating and if they haven’t been, you’ll need to ask about the reasons behind this. Is the cash flow seasonal? If so, it may be necessary for you to open an overdraft for a certain period of the year. 

The e-commerce industry has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, fuelled by a continuing reliance on technology as well as a complete shift in the way that people shop.

While it harbours many benefits for businesses, one area that it can fall down on is customer support and interaction. So, how can businesses continue to practice good communication with their customers via e-commerce platforms and why is it so important?

Customers expect it

You might not realise it, but customers shopping on e-commerce platforms actually expect businesses to interact with them. Most of the time this is because they feel that they need assistance with shopping. A survey even revealed that 83% of online shoppers expect assistance within 5 minutes of visiting a site. In the interest of keeping your customers happy, it’s vital that you have a responsive communication strategy in place for your e-commerce site. 

It ensures that you are seen as a reliable company

With so many rogue traders now operating on the internet, anything that you do to distinguish yourself as being reliable is beneficial. Engaging is positive communication with your customers is one way to do this. When you are just establishing your business on an e-commerce platform strong communication will ensure you are distinguishable from your competitors.

It builds brand awareness

Another important element for businesses that are just establishing themselves, strong communication between employees and customers will help to build brand awareness. There really is no better way to promote your business than through good word of mouth. Customers who have had a positive experience shopping on your site are much more likely to be speak favourably of your services to their friends and family, thus resulting in more business for you.

It improves attitudes and relationships between employees to

If you want to build a strong and successful business it is absolutely vital that there are good working relationships between your employees. Good attitudes towards customers is likely to lead to positive reviews which will boost morale and also improve productivity and efficiency within your workforce.

If you’re struggling to keep your team motivated, consider the benefits of encouraging more customer communication and rewarding positive reviews and progress. 

The flurry of stories about collapsing high street stores and the growth of e-commerce is leading many people to draw the conclusion that bricks and mortar retail is dead.

Last year in the UK we saw 5,855 high street stores close, with fashion and footwear outlets being the hardest hit according to statistics compiled by The Local Data Company.

The problem is one that is getting progressively worse, and this year both Toys R Us and Maplin buckled under mounting pressures, resulting in the loss of over 5,000 jobs.

E-commerce refers to the buying and selling of products and services online and offers both consumers and businesses a plethora of benefits.

For businesses, e-commerce gives them the ability to overcome geographical locations and take advantage of global markets while also gaining new custom thanks to the potential of search engine visibility.

So, in an ever-expanding digital society, how can retail stores continue to compete?

Personalize customer interactions

Sure, e-commerce platforms can offer customers speed and accessibility in equal measure, but one thing that they struggle to provide is that personal touch.

Many people that visit retail shops are looking for an experience, so it’s important for business owners to instil this idea into their workforce. Ensuring that every single employee is engaged while they are at work, are knowledgeable of their product range and are approaching customers to offer recommendations and support all help to strengthen interactions.

Up the ante with merchandise

If retail stores really want to compete, they need to be offering their customers something that they won’t be able to find elsewhere. Exclusivity is a great USP and is guaranteed to keep customers coming back for more. Brands could even consider making their own merchandise which could be personalised with designs and colours.

Offer flexible payment

Some online stores have already cottoned onto the benefits of this, with leading e-commerce site ASOS having fairly recently teamed up with Klarna to give shoppers the option to buy now and pay later. There’s no reason why bricks and mortar stores shouldn’t follow suit though. Partial payments, split payment and layaways are all options that businesses could consider.

Go online

This doesn’t mean stores should throw in the towel and funnel all of their energy into their website, but instead means that stores should recognize the potential of having some sort of online platform. Luckily there are many cloud-based solutions offering up templates and other tools to make creating a website relatively easy. 

At present, the retail industry is going through a wave of change thanks to one main component. E-commerce.

E-commerce is the activity of buying and selling goods online and is growing increasingly powerful in the world of retail, mainly because of a shift in the way that consumers are looking to purchase goods. Buying online offers people freedom and convenience, especially when busy working days are getting in the way and a reliance on technology continues to be present for most.

So, how much an impact is e-commerce really having and what are the benefits and drawbacks for the UK retail industry?

The impact of e-commerce is far-reaching and can be seen across a number of major retail outlets, including formal clothing chain Moss Bros, who have lost nearly a quarter of its market value following supply chain problems and a drop in the number of customers walking through the door.

It seems that, for the modern day consumer, purchasing online eliminates a number of problem. Why leave the house and wait in lengthy queues when you can get everything you need from the comfort of your own home?

But what about the UK retail industry? How are they set to benefit (or not) from a surge in e-commerce?

Benefits

Attract more customers with search engine visibility

All retailers are looking for new ways that they can draw in customers, whether it be by enhancing their marketing techniques or launching new products. Choosing to get on board with e-commerce can help retailers as they will become visible on search engines, meaning more people are likely to visit their site and make purchases.

Keep an eye on consumers purchasing habits

Every business wants to know more about what motivates their customers to make purchases and e-commerce makes it easy to track buyer behaviours and tailor services to suit purchasing habits.

Drawbacks

It lacks that personal touch

For some retailers, their biggest selling point is the fact that they can offer shoppers a personal experience and give them something that makes them feel special and valued. Often, e-commerce platforms lack this, would might not work for certain brands.

There is no exclusivity attached

E-commerce is lowering the barriers and making it easier for almost anyone to become a retailer without the need to rent or purchase premises. But is this a good thing? When anybody can set up an online store in less than a day, surely that speaks volumes about a lack of validity and exclusiveness within the industry.

We know that for retail companies, typical business loans don’t always work, which is why our Pay as You Trade service offers an alternative that is flexible and doesn’t come with the usual red tape. 

If your business operates in the retail sector, it’s likely that you have a website that enables you to sell your goods to customers.

Thanks to a shift in the way that people search for, engage with and buy products, the role of e-commerce has never been more prevalent.

From a superficial point of view, having an e-commerce platform may just seem like another way to utilize the benefits of technology, but have you considered how it can help you SME grow? Read on to find out more.

Global opportunities

Once you have set up an e-commerce website online, you are no longer restricted by your geographical location in the same way that you are if you just operate out of a shop. Thanks to the World Wide Web, you will be able to increase your visibility and reach your target audience from all corners of the globe.

A reliance on automation

Running a shop has a number of different costs associated with it including staff and physical space. In contrast to this, an e-commerce platform will already have the processes such as checkout, payments and operational capabilities built into it. When you are making these types of savings, it’s then easier to offer your customers promotions and discounts, encouraging them to keep shopping with you.

Readily available information

Often shoppers are looking for more than just products when they visit on an online store, they’re also in search of an experience. Having an e-commerce platform makes this easy to achieve. You can post blog posts and articles related to your products and can offer resolutions to common problems that your customers may face. This information can be readily available on a website and is much easier to engage with than it is in a shop. You can promote this content on you social media channels, which will in turn increase traffic to your site and result in increased sales.

Analyze demographic data

Are you struggling to sell certain products or finding that your sales dip towards the middle or end of the month? Having an e-commerce website will enable you to take advantage of analytical features to understand your customers more and what motivates them to shop.

Have you found out about our retail overdraft yet? Our Pay as You Trade service provides you with a capital boost that is perfectly suited to businesses with a high number of customer transactions and card payments, find out more here.