Amidst the high street chaos, small retailers are finding alternative ways to fight back
5, 648 small shops left the high street between 2010 and 2017
Emma Long, commercial director at work space provider BizSpace, looks at how some small retailers are fighting back by finding an alternative to the traditional high street setting.
With bad news stories continuing to pour out about the high street, you could be forgiven for thinking that setting up a retail business in today’s economic environment would be pure madness.
But while we might not have seen the last of the woes faced by town-centre retailers, the future is not necessarily so gloomy for retail more generally.
It is well known that the way people shop has changed. Online retail sales rose by 15.3% over the past year to reach 18.2% of all retail sales, meaning almost one pound in five is now spent online. In 2013, the figure was just one pound in ten.?
With every challenge comes an opportunity: for the real estate industry, for example, the rise in online shopping has manifested itself in less demand for town-centre retail property but an increasing call for warehouses and logistics space. If businesses are entrepreneurial enough to observe how habits are changing, anticipate what that means in terms of supply and demand dynamics, and position their offer accordingly, they stand to be successful.
Business Advice visitedworkspace's network of co-working venues across London for a day to find out why working within a community of like-minded entrepreneurs beats the bedroom gig. more»
As an ecommerce business, its crucial to get your product returns policy right. Here, Grid Law founder David Walker considers the consumer contract from an online retail perspective. more»
With Rakuten Marketingrevealing that 48% of shoppersworldwidehave already bought Christmas presents, we were curious to find out if the jolly season was as much of a priority for small businesses. more»
5, 648 small shops left the high street between 2010 and 2017
