Survival of the high street why rapid evolution is needed for retailers to thrive in the post pandemic shopping culture – Premier Construction…

By Matt Valentine, Aruba UK&I

The decline of the high street has been well documented for some time, but according to a survey by the CBI, despite multiple lockdowns and the restrictions across the UK, a surge in online shopping has slightly eased the pressure on retailers and as a result, many may be considering their high street space as a thing of the past.

However, brands must think beyond Covid to understand how major culture shifts in the way we shop will require a completely reimagined future consumer experience, and a tech enabled physical space will be a critical part of this.

Consumer health and safety comes first

Rather than turn their back on a physical retail space, brands need to examine how they can create a 360-degree experience for shoppers. To get this right, they are going to need to make sure their digital strategies are flawlessly planned and executed. Yet, before conceptualising the store and consumer patterns of the future, it is key that retailers can reassure customers that they are safe to enter.

Various technologies can be used to achieve this. For example, sensors, cameras, and various software packages can all be used to provide information such as the number of customers in store, whether social distancing is in place, monitoring customer dwell time and stock to suit the demographic known to frequent the store. Staff can then optimise their use of the shop floor and allow for better customer flow through the store.

Additional measures can be taken in store such as implementing a fully touchless experience touch screens just dont go far enough. 80% of UK shoppers have already changed the way they engage with them, with 51% admitting they aim to always wash or sanitise their hands immediately after using public touchscreens. Brands should instead look at how they can utilise mobile payment options. One example of this is Coca-Colas touchless vending machine which uses QR codes to allow customers to mobile order themselves a drink.

The future of the virtual store

As restrictions once more lift, customers will be looking for an in-store experience reflective of our modern times. They will likely favour spaces where firstly, they feel safe and secondly, are surrounded by technology that helps them browse items to get a real sense of how they look and feel and the technology needed to enable this goes beyond virtual queues and self-checkout.

Weve already seen retailers use augmented reality (AR) to create virtual catwalks for their customers and this is something brands could implement with visual displays either in store or in the shop window itself. Beyond this, shoppers may want to project a virtual image of themselves and scroll through various items to get a clear sense of what they want and leave having ordered it from the retailers stock as part of fulfilling their experience.

High street retailers must get ahead and realise the advantages of providing a social experience for customers. Where possible the various stake holders of Britains high streets retailers, landlords, local authorities, and local communities must work together to collaborate. This could mean the high street becoming more reliant on pop-ups, temporary attractions, drop-in centres or activations.

Getting the basics right

For all these solutions to work and give people a reason to come back and spend, stores must provide secure and reliable Wi-Fi for visitors is a major part of creating that positive experience enabling shoppers to engage with highly personalised experiences, while also providing businesses access to their applications that share customer data to help create that experience and promote loyalty and present offers to attract buyers to spend.

In this way connectivity is an absolute necessity for businesses rather than an optional extra. This evolving demand is something that should be front of mind for any business no matter the size. A poor wireless service, inside or in outside spaces is detrimental to an organisations bottom line. Fundamentally businesses need to ensure their network delivers consistently in all areas of their store.

In the past few months, we have all been forced to reinvent and come up with our own version of the new and better normal. Retailers must look beyond the basics of surviving and accelerate their plans to ensure they have resilient digital roadmaps in place to stay in the game.

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Survival of the high street why rapid evolution is needed for retailers to thrive in the post pandemic shopping culture - Premier Construction...