Adam Shilton

With recent headlines reporting that over 24,000 UK retail outlets closed during the first 6 months of the year one could be forgiven for thinking our high streets have succumbed to the aptly named ‘retail apocalypse’. It’s been a tumultuous year, with the likes of Toys R Us and Maplin collapsing into administration and department store chain House of Fraser saved only by a last minute rescue deal. As numerous other household names teeter on the verge of insolvency or are being forced close stores, it’s clear that the difficult times being faced by our high streets are far from over.

Yet despite the crisis conditions being faced by real-world retailers, bricks and mortar is far from dead. The retail landscape may be experiencing the most seismic upheaval since globalisation and chain-stores changed the face our high streets 50 years ago, but as was the case then, the best (and most relevant) will prevail.

“Despite the crisis conditions being faced by real-world retailers, bricks and mortar is far from dead”

So while it seems inevitable there will be further high (and low) profile casualties, I wanted to look at the 5 key factors bricks and mortar retailers should be considering, not only to survive but to thrive.

1. Digital is simply no longer an option

As of 2018 only around 12% of retail sales are made online globally. Yet despite this relatively modest figure the impact of ecommerce is already having an unprecedented and fundamental effect on the face of traditional retail. As such, if your brand doesn’t have at least some form of online ‘footprint’, you risk becoming the equivalent of a blacksmith in a digital age.

Not only are brands with ecommerce channels better placed to capture an increasingly digital savvy customer, but they are also helping future proof themselves from the inevitable; the simple fact that within a decade online will eclipse the store as the new flagship. Irrespective of the size of your store, or indeed the size of your store estate, online will soon become the dominant touchpoint for consumers wishing to interact with your brand. The store, as we know it, will become an incredibly valuable yet secondary touchpoint – another marketing stream allowing shoppers to interact with brands in the real world and service their physical expectations. Retail reframed, with online as brand flagship and store as brand embassy.

Yet it’s more than an active online presence brands require to remain relevant in a digital age. From a consumer insight perspective, brands must also leverage and scrutinise data captured from their online platforms to create ever closer and more personal relationships with their customer, to better understand their tastes and preferences and most importantly what they want. Brands should also harness digital technology to help improve how they deliver value to the customer, whether that’s through smarter inventory management systems, a streamlining of the supply chain or by bringing convenience to the customer through faster delivery options.

So whether it’s a seamless online Flagship that captures customers or sophisticated back-office analytics that help improve the bottom line, the fact of the matter is – investing in digital is simply no longer an option.

2. Think “Venue” rather than “Store”

You would need to have been locked in a lead-lined box for the past couple of years not to have heard the words ‘retail’ and ‘experience’ used together in the same sentence. The fact of the matter is that stores can no longer simply operate as rooms filled with rails as the focus of shopping moves away from buying things towards how the customer experiences buying those things.

In an age when you can purchase a luxury handbag from your sofa at 2am, why bother going to a store at all? Bricks and mortar retailers should therefore move away from having a commodity focussed mindset to an experience focussed one. Real-world stores need to be reimagined as ‘Venues’, in essence physical brand manifestations which offer customers unique sensorial experiences, purposeful interactions and impeccable service led connections – fundamentally those things which cannot be found online, or at least not yet.

A perfect case study example here is the digital-native beauty brand Glossier who just opened their largest physical store in New York City this November. Decorated in muted pink tones and with soft lighting, the space was designed to create the “feeling” of the online brand in a real-world environment. Staff, called ‘offline editors’, are on hand to help and advise the brand’s devoted customers as they test and play their way through the sanctuary like space. Crucially, the whole experience focusses on interaction, escapism, belonging and a chance to hang out with like-minded individuals. And why rush? For that you can shop with the brand online.

3. Know your customer now and know your customer next

At the heart of every successful retail brand lies an innate understanding of the customer and thereby the best way to satisfy their needs and demands. But a long-standing and trusted methodology can sometimes be the very thing that blindsides a business from what’s on the horizon and ultimately derails that understanding. Particularly in a world where customer loyalty is increasingly fleeting, brands are at risk of suffering from a success induced blind spot.

If we consider the likes of Blockbuster Video or famously Kodak, these once hugely successful brands were ultimately blindsided by their single minded, narrow-focus approach. Their hugely successful business strategies, no doubt established when times were good, ultimately became their undoing as they failed to foresee and ultimately respond to the prevailing shifts in technology and the consumer’s appetite. These are easy observations to make with the view of hindsight, nevertheless having an ear to the ground for shifting trends in consumer behaviour and the wider marketplace plus the foresight and agility to adapt will be key to the future success of any retail brand.

4. Speak with confidence

Influenced in part by the single-minded way in which online brands often engage with their audience today’s consumers have become acclimatised to (and expect) a strong and confident point of view from the retail brands they interact with. Don’t be mistaken, we’re not talking about traditional advertising or marketing here, we’re talking about a brand’s specific point of view on seasonality, style, social conscience, quality, or simply the products they stock, in order to convey a sense of purpose to the customer. This proposition then needs to come to life with consistency across all touchpoints in-store and online. Most importantly however it has to be relevant and 100% true to the brand’s DNA. It goes without saying that a cynical approach to this strategy, aimed solely at attracting customers or increasing revenue is likely to do more harm than good.

So whether it’s a unique conversation around product (think Eytys’s unisex take on sneakers and apparel) or a disruptive approach to promotion (think Selfridges ‘Rocks Christmas’ campaign) or a staunchly ethical approach to the supply chain (think fashion brand Everlane’s ‘Radical Transparency’ mantra) customers crave a point of difference. Today, consumers are increasingly demanding an ever more curated take not only on what they’re buying, but why they should be buying it.

5. Embrace innovation and change

Never before have retailers needed to be so able to weather the storm. In a time of such unparalleled change, brands need to explore new and innovative ways of interacting with their customers and in doing so strive to forge new and lasting relationships. Today, bricks and mortar retailers should aim to adopt a new mindset by thinking of themselves more like “software” that can be updated to respond to shifting consumer trends, rather than “temples” primarily housed in physical spaces that have a fixed and immovable point of view. The time to embrace innovation and change is now.

Nordstrom, the legacy American department store chain is in the process of doing just that. By way of re-imagining its business model, Nordstrom has both re-engaged its customer and increased its bottom line. Furthermore, in doing so the Seattle based chain has set itself apart from its embattled peer group. This year Nordstrom saw profits rise after investing heavily in its ecommerce (with a 23% increase in sales) and launched an inventory-free concept Nordstrom Local. In addition, the brand has opened a dedicated men’s store in Manhattan where online purchases can be collected from the store’s location 24-hours a day and plans to follow suit with a women’s location in 2019.

So while our embattled high streets may be currently undergoing a crisis of confidence, I truly believe that as long as retailers create reimagined environments that speak to their customers with consistency, that foster a sense of community and purpose, that understand their customer inherently and are brave enough to innovate in the face of change, we will once again be reminded why we love to shop.