When was the last time that you went to a shop in the High Street? Last week? A month ago? Take a look at the number of times you’ve used the internet and you could begin to identify an issue. There is a decrease in people shopping at the stores any more. Could this be the beginning of the end of our old-fashioned High Streets?
Your Local Convenience Store – Online
A report released by the Centre for Retail Research claims that more than 60,000 stores in the UK will be closed within five years. That’s 22 percent from the High Street. The most affected according to the report will be beauty and health stores.
Why is it that increasing numbers of people are leaving the convenience stores in our neighborhood for online convenience?
Pricing is among the major advantages of buying on the internet.By pressing the button, you can look up the cost of an item to determine the most affordable price and in these times of financial hardship, finding an affordable price is as crucial as ever.
The convenience aspect is another important issue. It is possible to find anything you’d like on the Internet however do you remember how many times you strolled the length and wide of High Street searching for that unique present? Perhaps that one product that isn’t even in the store? But with just a few clicks , you can find the item, but also order it to pay for it, and then have it delivered directly to your doorstep.
It’s this ease that people have really enjoyed and, with a twist of events, it’s this trend that may prove to be the saving grace of High Street.
How Click and Collect Could Save the High Street
If you’re not familiar to the notion of “Click and Collect,” this is how it works:
You will are able to find the item you need on the internet
You make an order
Instead of waiting for it to arrive at your doorstep, you can take it to your local shop
In most cases, the ‘Click and Collect’ service is cost-free and in some cases instances, delivery costs are less than the costs of the postage.
What can we do to help our failing High Street? The main problems with shopping online is:
High delivery charges
– Delivery issues
Which? published the month of November that over 60% of online customers had delivery issues, while 1 out of 10 encountered issues with Christmas delivery. The issues encountered were the well-known “Sorry you’re not here” cards, when the customer was certain to be in, packages abandoned in the rain or in the hands of unidentified neighbors.
It is possible that the inability are cocktail smokers worth it of our delivery service could be a good thing for High Street High Street needed to get ahead.
Each of John Lewis and Next hailed their “Click and Collect services for the boost in sales at the time of Christmas 2012 because people were able to go to their local stores to collect their purchases, instead of having to waiting for the delivery of the postman the items.
Not only big retailers that are reaping the benefits. Local stores are being urged to be used as locations for collection for larger stores. The customer benefits from this by knowing that they are able to collect their purchases or gifts from the local village store at their own time and if there is an issue with the item the item, they can return it to the same store. For shopkeepers this could mean more customers coming into their store.
The High Street Fights Back
There’s more than just the ‘Click and Collect’ service which could help save the High Street, so might the shoppers themselves. In the midst of all the despair and doom are the actual statistics and according to BBC the actual numbers show that 90% of our spending each year is derived from shopping on the High Street.
It seems that we prefer to feel and see the items before buying these items, which is causing many online stores to return on bricks and mortar. Shopping is, for a lot people, can be a pleasurable social event that we enjoy to share with friends and family. And while it is a an integral part of our lives, there will always be a need to shop on high-street shopping. High Street.