Despite a spate of recent high-street failures, new research from shopping app Udozi reveals that there is light at the end of the tunnel for bricks and mortar stores.
The research, which polled the views of 2000 consumers, shows that a third (33%) of Brits want to see more boutiques and independent stores on local high-streets, whilst nearly 1 in 5 (19%) would like to see more pop-up stores opening up locally.
A nation of independent shoppers
Over 15% of shoppers are motivated to buy from independent stores by their desire to support small local businesses, nearly 1 in 5 (18%) feel that there is a wider variety of unique products available, and 15% like shopping in boutiques to avoid buying the same items as everyone else. But despite this, almost 60% think that they are too expensive, 15% are not shopping in independent stores because they simply don’t know where to find them, and over 10% say that a lack of mobile/online presence is putting them off as they can’t research key store and product information on-the-go.
What about the national retailers?
The Udozi research reveals that national retailers are still the number one shopping location for over 30% of consumers, and John Lewis (29%), Debenhams (28%) and Primark (22%) ranked top of the ‘most desirable places to shop’ list. But national retailers need to adapt if they are to survive the current economic climate as consumer frustrations associated with shopping in high-street chains include over-crowding in-store (37%), items not being in stock (24%), long queues for the changing rooms (22%) and not being able to find the right products (19%).
According to the research, food and drink stores provide the most ‘likeable’ high-street shopping experience for British consumers, whilst over half (58%) of Brits dislike their local high-street shopping experience when looking for fashion items.
Alan Gabbay, Founder, Udozi stated, “Despite the demand for more independent retailers on Britain’s high-streets, failure to keep up with the latest technological innovations such as mobile means that many potential customers are unable discover London’s hidden boutiques. Independent stores need to evolve and learn to embrace all channels for customer engagement if they want to survive – especially in times of austerity.”
A little inspiration…
When asked about their source of shopping inspiration, surprisingly, 15% of Brits still browse traditional store catalogues for shopping advice, whilst only 5% of us are inspired by celebrities when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Just over 1 in 5 (23%) Brits look to magazines as their main source of shopping inspiration and just under 20% talk to friends for shopping advice.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from OnePoll. Total sample size was 2000 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th – 29th April 2013. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
Source: www.udozi.com
