With the majority of town centres at only 75% occupancy and with some smaller market towns this figure being nearer to 50%, what does this mean for both the Retailer and the Customer?
Writing about this very issue in ‘Retail Weekly’, Ben Cooper comments that ‘An exodus of the multiple retail brands, hoardings plastered over once thriving shop fronts and a glut of struggling independent retailers… all are symptomatic of how the downturn is affecting secondary and tertiary towns. Many are rapidly turning into retail ghost towns.’
I wasn’t shocked to find that my home town, Camberley was the 2nd emptiest High Street in this article about towns with the highest voids – coming in at a staggering -43% as it certainly felt that way on my visits.
So what can be done to keep our High Street retailers thriving and also to guarantee their survival?
I am passionate about Customer Service and I still believe that it holds to the key to delighting, surprising and more importantly to retaining your customer base.
The other challenge affecting struggling town centres is around competition. It is always easier to get footfall into a High Street when there is a strong offer from different retailers. Let’s face it – if you are shopping for a specific item, E.g. a dress for an occasion, you are far more likely to want to visit somewhere that has some choice, rather than a town or centre with just one store.
So – if competition is good, how can the decline of our High Streets be prevented? Will it just be a matter of survival of the fittest? Or will the best service and offer win the retail war?
I am constantly staggered by how little impact the recession seems to have made on the Sales Assistants that I seem to come across in my day-to-day exploration of our shops.
From an attitude of total indifference and a basic lack of product knowledge, right through to out-an-out rudeness – it is rare to find someone in retail that really seems to understand that they are in a Service Role!
I understand that retail is not the best paid work, and I also realise that there are unpleasant Customers out there who subject staff to verbal and occasionally (and unacceptably) physical abuse! However, these Customers are the exception NOT the norm, and yet ‘bad service’is far more common.
So what can the Retailers do?
Well, my first suggestion is that they review the staff that they have. In today’s climate, where jobs are becoming harder to find and unemployment is at an all time high, I wonder if some of the Sales Assistant’s I come across should even be having a career in retail! Surely every Store should be employing the best – and at a minimum people who actually enjoy helping Customers?
Secondly, all Retailers should review their levels of staffing. Wage cost is one of the largest and most controllable expenditure that the business has. This has led to certain stores feeling like a ghost town when you walk in. Bad service? No – in these stores you get ‘No Service’!
Thirdly and most importantly – Retailers need to continue to train and develop their sales teams. All Sales Staff need a basic level of product knowledge and also need to be coached on how to deliver a really superb shopping experience. Without these skills – how can a business develop Customer loyalty and therefore retain and increase their repeat business – the lifeblood of any thriving Retailer!
Finally – and perhaps critically – Retail has never been more price sensitive. With Companies such as Primark and New Look reporting far better results and the rest of the High Street having been in perpetual ‘Sale’ since before Christmas – it seems that ‘a bargain’ will still drive us into stores and get us buying! It seems when we are paying rock bottom prices – our service level expectation decreases exponentially!
If the High Street is to survive – it seems that many Retailers still have much work to do! So if we have over 25% vacancies in the majority of our High Streets – perhaps it’s time we got 100% of service?
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