Fishburn Hedges

14.03.2012

Against a backdrop of unprecedented change in retail, we assembled an expert panel to discuss how retailers are adapting their strategies to appeal to today’s savvy, price-conscious consumers, and what the future holds for the high street.

The speakers at our event on Tuesday 6 March were:

Andrea Felsted, Senior Retail Correspondent, Financial Times
Gwyn Burr, Customer Service and Colleague Director, Sainsbury’s
Hash Ladha, Deputy Managing Director, Oasis
Simon Russell, Head of Multi Channel, John Lewis

The key points were:

• The recession has made both shopper and retailer smarter. Delivering an engaging, seamless retail experience is essential to meeting customer expectations
• Multi-channel has changed the game.  It has created many challenges and opportunities for retailers as boundaries blur between offline and online and drive fundamental shifts in business strategy
• The winners on the high street will empower consumers to take greater control of their own shopping, and retail operations will need to be structured to reflect a ‘one brand’ experience
• Between older, web-savvy consumers who mostly log on for research and younger, continuously connected ones, lies the “muddled generation”. Confused and undecided as to whether technology is a good thing, or something which is inhibiting their lifestyles 

 

What’s Next… for the High Street? from Fishburn Hedges on Vimeo.

The way we shop

All panellists acknowledged the enduring shift in consumer behaviour as a result of the recession and ongoing squeeze on spend. Both Simon Russell and Gwyn Burr referred to the savvy shopper, armed with pre-shop online research and a shopping list they no longer deviate from.

Gwyn Burr added that in switching to own branded goods consumers were making savings and recession-proofing their shopping baskets.

The FT’s Andrea Felsted echoed these sentiments, saying cash strapped customers don’t want to be tempted into extra purchases. She suggested this was contributing to a trend that’s receiving little attention to date: the cooling of out of town hypermarket growth and return to local convenience, with signals from the ‘big four’ supermarkets that less new space will open in the future. She thought this could ironically drive footfall back to the high street and make some Portas recommendations obsolete.

Creating the customer connection

Hash Ladha of Oasis said the recession had been a good thing, sharpening retailer’s focus on winning the hearts and minds of customers as they fight for share of wallet.

Retailers have to be innovative to deliver a compelling shopping experience and point of differentiation. He said it was creating a blurring of boundaries between offline and online channels.  Philosophies usually applied to one are breeding new, engaging experiences via others.  In-store self-scanning is a case in point.

The evolution of the ‘omni-channel’ environment raised questions about the impact on traditional, quality in-store customer service.

With technology at the heart of a more efficient, enjoyable experience, Simon Russell argued a new staff skill set was required for the new retail offer. Those on the shop floor must be savvy multi-channel shoppers themselves and this needs to be instilled as far back as the recruitment process.

For Hash Ladha, in-store teams are more ready for technology than head offices normally give them credit for and too often these younger, more tech-savvy, workers are bemused that their employers force them to leave the technology at the door.

Looking ahead to the future

In many ways, it sounded like the challenges of the future are already here.

Technology will need to be embraced across every channel – there’s no escaping it as consumers come to expect it.

Pure play bricks-and-mortar retailers will need to integrate with the digital world, for instance through social media, to link into the growth it is generating.  Multi-channel retailers meanwhile will be able to create more loyal, profitable customers if they can attract them to use additional channels, said Simon Russell. The John Lewis experience shows a customer encouraged to buy online, as well as in-store, can spend up to 3.5 times more.

Key issues such as planning agreements still need to be tackled if there's a future for the high street, stressed Andrea Felsted. But the core challenge central to the night’s discussion was the need to align business structure to a ‘one brand’ experience, with the customer in the driving seat.

Gwyn Burr talked of Sainsbury’s success in “walking the journey with the customer” – making retail practices and process more efficient so that any touch points connect the consumer in the way that they want. Meanwhile John Lewis and Oasis are leading the way in rolling out technologies in-store and back-office that create customer stickiness and make an anytime, anywhere sales relevant to particular profit centres.

Indeed, it seems there’s no end in sight for the pace of change on the high street.

To see a video of the full event, please click here.