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Canvas8 Member : [email protected] REPORT 06 Sep 19 HOW ARE HIGH STREET FASHION BRANDS CATERING TO BRITONS? High street fashion brands are struggling to keep up with the changing times, and the popularity and convenience of online shopping. However, since consumers still love to shop in-store, the end is not necessarily nigh. What can fast fashion brands do to reach shoppers on the high street? Location United Kingdom Featured Experts Souad Katan Souad Katan is a London-based merchandising and retail consultant. She has worked with Hobbs, Laura Ashley, Superdry, and Molton Brown. Iain Kimmins Iain Kimmins, a visual merchandising professional, is the founder of Creative Download. He has worked with Harrods and Selfridges in London and Tangs in Singapore. Iain is also the chairman of the British Display Society. Author Stevie Mackenzie-Smith Highlights & Data The British high street is suffering as Despite the ease and appeal of online shoppers increasingly go online to get shopping, 85% of Britons prefer to shop in what they want and need physical stores (Marketingsignals.com, 2019) But stores are innovating to offer Britons the experiential shopping moments they 73% of people consider the shopping crave – from brow bars to cafes experience as an influential factor in their purchasing decision (PWC, 2018) There is a tension between Britons’ desire to support brands with eco-savvy 53% of Gen Yers feel store associates values and their love of fast fashion don’t have the right tools to offer great customer service, such as tablets for suggesting products (Salesforce, 2017) Scope Page 1 [ Canvas8 - How are high street fashion brands catering to Britons? ] Canvas8 Member : [email protected] The high street is Britain’s most notorious survivor, having outlived its own death knell more times than anyone can count. Yet high street fashion brands continue to struggle – in spite of data which reveals that 85% of Britons prefer shopping in-store rather than online. [1] It seems that digitally- minded shoppers are being actively pushed away by high street fashion brands who are failing to keep them interested. The research found that although consumers would rather see and touch a product before buying it, time constraints, stock issues, and convenience mean they’re making purchases online instead. ---- The findings reflect an ongoing trend on the British high street. Since 2013, English and Welsh town centres have lost 8% of their shops on average. [2] Major fashion brands – once high street stalwarts – have been rocked by an inability to stay relevant. In the past year, Debenhams, LK Bennett, and M&S all announced store closures, while House of Fraser, Karen Millen, and Jack Wills went into administration. [3] Topshop survived by the skin of its teeth after a last-minute rescue plan. [4] While many fashion chains are failing on the high street, online fast fashion is booming. Online retailer Boohoo – which also owns PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal – saw sales surge in the final four months of 2018, with revenues jumping 44% to £328.2 million. [5] But other online giants are opening physical spaces, too. In 2015 Amazon launched its first physical Amazon Books store, and in 2019 it launched Amazon Go, a checkout-less convenience store. [6] “Very few people exclusively shop online or only in-store. They marry the best of both worlds,” says Natalie Berg, retail analyst and author. Amazon, says Berg, is simply “connecting the dots.” [7] It is acutely aware of the services it cannot offer as an online platform – when it comes to its fashion offering, it has turned to pop-up stores to try to crack the market. [8] The rise of e- commerce and a culture of high return rates has put continued pressure on international shipping, as the real cost of delivery continues to rise for businesses. Could combining its digital expertise with a frictionless in-store experience be the solution not only for Amazon, but for ailing high street brands? With challenging trading conditions and a UK fashion industry worth £32 billion, there is much at stake. [9] When it comes to shopping high street brands, what are people looking for, and how can these brands gain back their audiences? Page 2 [ Canvas8 - How are high street fashion brands catering to Britons? ] Canvas8 Member : [email protected] David Anderson (2019) © All in the experience Across all customers, 73% of respondents in a PWC survey point to the shopping experience as an influential factor in their decision to purchase products. [10] Yet while online shopping is upping its game, brands are failing to meet customer expectations in the store.“My daughter is in her 20s and somebody asked me if she goes shopping on a Saturday with her friends. I said, ‘No, that's what we used to do!’,” says merchandising and retail consultant Souad Katan. “Her age group doesn’t do that – she's forever coming home with parcels from online purchases delivered to work.” Katan’s daughter is emblematic of a younger generation of shoppers who spurn in-store purchasing in favour of speedy online buys. [11] One in-store tension point, explains Katan, is that few fashion brands offer something truly different. “They’re all just trying to be Zara,” she says, citing a lack of a clear brand story and a vision regarding quality customer service as common downfalls. [11] The power of the store, adds Iain Kimmins, founder of Creative Download, a visual merchandising agency, is its ability to “create and influence the customer.” Such experience starts on the street, as the shopper is looking in. “A potential customer only has a few seconds to stop, look, and enter the store. In New York, Lord & Taylor estimates that a whopping 500,000 people walk past its windows each day, while Macy’s clocks in 10,000 people per hour.” [12] High street brands have made moves to create a better experience for shoppers. Birmingham’s five-storey Primark addresses these gaps. The 160,000 square foot shop – Primark’s largest in the world – aims to attract Birmingham’s young demographic (40% of the city’s population is under 25 years old) with a barber shop, and a blow dry and beauty bar. A Disney-licensed cafe and ‘Pri- Market’ cafe are destinations for families and young shoppers to socialise, relax, and refuel. [13] It’s about “standing out from its competitors,” says Primark’s director of store design. With so many compelling services under one roof, Birmingham’s Primark is already converting casual browsers into shoppers. [14] Page 3 [ Canvas8 - How are high street fashion brands catering to Britons? ] Canvas8 Member : [email protected] Birmingham’s Primark is a five-floor megastore Krisztina Papp (2019) © Remember customer care? Beyond the lack of in-store curation, another failing of high street fashion brands is that they haven’t properly evolved their customer care offer. This comes as 53% of Gen Yers say that store associates don’t have the tools they need to offer great customer service, such as mobile devices for looking up customer profiles and recommending products. And 35% want the ability to search for merchandise in a physical store using an image, and then receive on-the-spot product recommendations. [15] Tech enables optimised customer care, yet, “lots of retailers treat their online store and their brick-and-mortar stores differently, and that’s so old-fashioned,” says Katan. [11] Being able to check stock levels in-store, order out-of-stock items from the shop floor, arrange home delivery, and use your phone to pay for items makes the shopping experience seamless and pain-free. Katan explains that customer care is key to attracting footfall. “The internet can’t offer that service – so if you can ace in-store customer service, you’ll win more and more customers.” [11] While tech may be lacking, brands are pivoting to create personal services with more of a human touch. John Lewis’s personal shopping service offers five different consultation services aimed at occasions like building a holiday wardrobe, finding the perfect pair of jeans, and more. Customers can take advantage of up to 9 hours of free-of-charge personal shopping. “Lower customer expectation will reduce the perceived value of the merchandise,” says Iain Kimmins, while conversely, adds Katan, better customer experience is “going to convert more shoppers because they’re building that element of trust.” [12] [11] [Shops] create and influence the customer. A potential customer only has a few seconds to stop, look, and enter the store Iain Kimmins, founder of Creative Download Ethical awareness Fashion brands, finding themselves compromised by the conversation around eco-consciousness, are relying on sustainability initiatives to remain relevant. Zara says its ‘sustainable’ Join Life range will make up 20% of the brand’s offering by the end of 2019, and announced the use of 100% sustainable cellulosic fibers for responsible viscose, the discontinuation of single-use plastics, and the adoption of green-only packaging by 2023. [16] Adidas promises to use only recycled plastics by 2024, while Monki, part of the H&M Group, pledged a completely sustainable supply chain by 2030. [17][18] When surveyed, consumers say they’re committed to shopping ethically – more than half of under-24s say they want to buy from brands that engage in eco-friendly practices. [14] But sustainability isn’t necessarily the end of fast fashion – when Missguided launched its infamous £1 bikini, critics decried it as the epitome of fashion’s throwaway culture. But the bikini continued to sell out. Within 45 minutes of each restock, it was selling out in every size – from 4 to 24.