The Oxford Street lights have been switched on and Christmas shopping season is officially in full swing. But will it be a happy Christmas for hundreds of high-street retailers across the UK, threatened by the growth of online shopping? And how are retailers responding to the challenge?
There's no escaping the unstoppable growth in online shopping. 'Mega Monday' - November 26 - will soon be upon us.
On the same Monday in 2011, 4.8m transactions valued at £303m took place online. So named by the media, it's predicted to be the biggest online shopping day of the year as consumers look to buy in time for Christmas deliveries
In 2005, internet sales accounted for almost 3pc of total UK household spending compared with less than 1pc in 2002 - a nearly fourfold increase.
By 2010 some 13.5pc of all purchases completed over the internet, projected to rise to 23pc by 2016. The high street is suffering the consequences, exacerbated by a challenging economy and prohibitive costs of running a retail outlet. An estimated 14 shops a day closed on the UK high streets in 2011. No doubt the figure will be higher when we look back on 2012.
Mary Portas made some sensible suggestions in her December 2011 High Street Review about relieving some of these burdens meantime retailers are having to look at alternative sales channels.
The Spirit of Christmas Fair is the UK's largest retail show with over 680 exhibitors and an average spend exceeding £500 per visitor - and is one such alternative. Since inception in 2001, its footfall has bucked the downturn and grown consistently - to over 37,000 visitors every year.
I spoke to some of the brands present at their 2012 show last week about why they attend. The guaranteed footfall and quality of audience present a cost effective way to reach the customer and it delivers precious income at a superior margin than they can achieve selling wholesale.
BLEND Collective is a Sussex based body and bath care brand using 100pc pure essentials oils. Co-founder Clive Walker - who formerly worked with aromatherapy legend Robert Tisserand - told me that 'the mix of trade and consumer shows and our own e-commerce allows us to start to build awareness of the brand and establish a customer base, building the business whilst we are selling'.
Also at the show, MyShowcase is a new direct sales beauty business attracted by the high quality, predominantly female audience. Created by Nancy Cruiskshank and co-founded by Telegraph Magazine beauty editor Kate Shapland, it allows customers 'to shop together, to try and buy new brands in the comfort of your home or workplace and to support the creators of independent beauty brands'. It also provides women the opportunity to start their own business selling products - as a MyShowcase 'stylist'.
Richard Lamballe, founder of Smith & Monger PR who markets the event, told me that 'the quality of the many ingenious propositions and products here reinforce that there is no shortage of style or substance in UK retail small businesses'. He noted that if there is anything lacking, 'it is only small gaps - in experience, funding, or indeed both to assist them in progressing to the next level'. Shows like this can help retailers plug some of those gaps.
Nonetheless, nobody is beyond the lure of the shift online. In a slightly ironic twist, even consumer shopping events themselves are now going online. Stuart Hunter, Show Director at owner Clarion Events, told me they have now launched Spirit Boutique, an online store designed to give exhibitors and their products a much needed year round platform to sell to a broader customer base.
It might be 'safe' online but with the economy struggling and the understandable inability of the government or its high profile ambassadors to deliver positive measures and stem the flow of blood, the answer to whether it will be a happy christmas for high street retailers may well be a foregone conclusion.
Source: Telegraph
