High Street
This coverage explores the state and evolution of the UK high street, with reporting on store openings and closures, footfall trends, redevelopment projects, policy impacts, and changing consumer behaviour. Insights are designed to help retail managers and executives understand the challenges and opportunities shaping high street retail operations and strategy.
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Oct- 2018 -4 OctoberHigh Street
3,200 stores ‘disappear’ from high street in four years
The number of physical shops in the UK has fallen by almost 3,200 over the past four years, down 1.2% to 263,070. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) the reason for the decline is down to a “transformation” of the industry, driven by changes in shopping habits, new technology,…
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Sep- 2018 -24 SeptemberHigh Street
60% of British people believe the high street will ‘eventually disappear’
New research has found that 60% of British people believe that the high street will “eventually disappear”. The research by Close Brothers Asset Finance also found that 85% of people feel the high street is in decline, with 70% adding that councils and the government are not giving “enough support”.…
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7 SeptemberEconomy
August high street sales one of ‘worst on record’ as shoppers steer clear
August high street sales have been described as “one of the worst on record” by accountancy and business advisory firm BDO. According to the firm’s High Street Sales Tracker (HSST) for August, UK high street sales declined 2.7% year-on-year – making it the worst August decline for three years. BDO…
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Aug- 2018 -31 AugustComment
Can VAT help save the High Street?
There are growing calls for an ‘online sales tax’ (OST) to redress the balance between physical and digital retailing but a fiscal solution may have to be more intricate – and how VAT is levied may be part of the answer. We’re all familiar with being asked in sandwich bars…
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20 AugustAdvice
Is your omnichannel strategy costing or saving you money?
For retailers that operate both online and physical stores, an ongoing challenge is to find a way to compete directly with online-only competitors. The latter has increasingly been flexing their muscles as traditional High Street chains come under more and more financial pressure, leading to some high-profile collapses and reshuffles…
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14 AugustEconomy
High street job losses ‘cost British economy £1.5bn’
New research has found that high street job losses have cost the British economy £1.5bn, as the number of lost jobs exceeds 30,000. Figures from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) include those facing imminent redundancy alongside those who have already lost their jobs, adding up to £1.5bn in lost GDP.…
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10 AugustHealth & Beauty
Superdrug brings HIV tests to the high street in UK first
HIV tests are available to purchase on the UK high street for the first time as health and beauty retailer Superdrug will now sell the BioSURE tests in its pharmacies. The self-testing kit retails for £33.99 and has been available online since 2015. It was the first legally approved test…
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6 AugustHigh Street
Footfall drops in July as customers avoid high street in heatwave
The heatwave drew customers away from the high street in July, as footfall fell by 10.8% compared with the same month in 2017. According to the Ipsos Retail Traffic Index, footfall was down in all regions compared with July 2017 with Scotland and Northern Ireland seeing 6.5% less shoppers on…
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2 AugustAdvice
The end of the High Street as we know it? Part II
Like many other Retail Sector readers, I found Kareena Uttamchandani’s post this week about the end of high street fascinating reading. She highlights a couple of reasons why traditional retail is struggling, principally the rise of online shopping, but also the fact that we live in the age of the…
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Jul- 2018 -26 JulyHigh Street
Omnichannel experience ‘key to survival of high street’, shoppers say
Over 52% of shoppers in the UK believe that retailers need to offer a more seamless experience between online and offline commerce to retain their custom. This was one of the key findings from a survey of 1,000 shoppers, conducted by full service e-commerce agency, PushON, which stated that retailers…
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