Page 43 - CBM15

~ We Are Pentagon ~

Hope in the

High Street:

Making Digital

the New Reality

Text: Ellie Thomson, Marketing Manager at We Are Pentagon// Photos: iStock
Is the UK high street doomed? That is the question that has been
on many people’s lips for the last few decades, as we grapple with
losing some of our biggest and most familiar brands and retailers.

Throw the global Covid-19 pandemic into the mix, and plenty
of media reports seem to indicate the beginning of the end for
the brick-and-mortar shopping experience. While the digital
revolution continues to transform and influence consumer
behaviour, this article explores whether the solution for our high
streets may lie in the very challenges they have been facing.

t would be an understatement to say that the high and a likely loss of 1,300 jobs.
street has not been in the strongest position, even Yet when department stores first arrived in the UK in the
Ibefore the rise of e-commerce giants and this year’s early 1900s, they were convenient, innovative and disruptive
global pandemic. Rising rents, economic recessions and the players in the retail landscape. Having multiple product
rapidly evolving global retail landscape have all added to the categories all stocked in one place – what more could you
battle stores have been fighting to stay at the forefront of want in a pre-digital age? The success of department stores
consumers’ minds and win the hearts of local communities. was strengthened by being a business model that could be
With descriptors such as “retail apocalypse”, “retail crisis” easily introduced to almost any town or city. Fast-forward
and “retail decline” sprinkled into news headlines almost to the 2000s, and they were still recognisable – on the
daily, it is a challenge to remain surprised when you read one hand, showing their durability but on the other hand,
that yet another household name is struggling with debt demonstrating an inability to move ahead of the consumer
or a drop in consumer demand. Even the most robust of curve in bringing a new kind of customer experience. This
British retail names, including the likes of John Lewis & problem is, of course, not just isolated to department stores,
Partners, are not immune to external threats to their highly with standalone stores selling everything from fashion to
praised in-store customer experiences. This comes with the stationery and electricals all reporting store closures, job
announcement in July of eight John Lewis store closures losses, and senior management restructures.

43