To ask if you think all retail shops will be gone within 5/10 years?

[FryingPanWithJam]

I ask because so many of them seem so dead. Or used mostly for collecting online orders

Maybe they will close 90% of shop and only have flagship type shops in places like London, Milton Keynes, Manchester Old Trafford, Blue Water, Lakeside etc

I went to pick up my M&S order today and as usual, it’s really busy inside! Seems people have yet to lose their love for the place

The John Lewis store not too far away is always quiet now. As is every other shop in my local retail park such as Matalan and H&M

Poundland just opened (yet another one) and they are always busy!

Well my niche sole trader business had my personal touch but it was never enough apparently. There's only so much "experience" you can deliver until you find yourself wondering if offering sexual favours in the stock room would work. I threw in the towel after 7 years mostly struggling because while Facebook promised me 4000 people loved my little shop, footfall told me otherwise.

I only needed 200 a day to keep going and towards the end there were months where I was doing well if I made that in a week. Or a fortnight. I had customers photograph my stock and Google to find it cheaper online in front of my face. When I realised people could buy direct from fucking Temu cheaper than I could buy the same stock from my wholesalers, I finally admitted defeat. Believe me I tried everything.

On a broader scale some of the big boys may survive, but independent retailers won't be able to compete. It is what it is. Bitter? You betcha.

the traditional high street model has been outdated for years

I very rarely buy clothes in an actual shop. I live in a small town, most of the shops don't sell the clothes I want to buy, so I buy online, even from overseas at times. Returning them really isn't difficult, I always have them sent back the day they arrive, or at least the day after. I have always hated trying clothes on instore and would much rather try then on in the comfort of my own home, using my own mirrors (I swear those in shops are designed to be unflattering!). I hardly ever go into clothes shops these days (I'm 65 btw).

Hasn’t John Lewis always been a bit hidden though, when I was younger my Mum was really pleased that a branch opened in a Kingston as prior to that is was just occasional visit to Oxford Street whereas Marks and Spencers are everywhere. I thought their lack of stores helped with their desirability and it was purposeful?

🤣

Only the stores that do it well will survive, lots of stock, great customer service etc. The ones that are in the middle are the ones that won't and don't survive.

You are very lucky that you are a standard shape and size. I would have to spend £££ and wait for refunds and spend far too much time queuing in a post office to do that. I always take more than one size into a changing room when buying clothes.

For footwear I usually have to try on upwards of double figures to find any that are comfortable.

I took a trip over to Manchester last week to visit the Uniqlo shop. Of the 8 pieces of clothing I took into the changing room I bought 3. Disappointingly, the trousers that were a perfect fit were too short.

I think the number of independent retailers will reduce above all.

I wouldn't actually say that I am a standard size, and I'm certainly not a standard shape 😅but I'm not super fussy, and tend to wear oversize clothing anyway. Mostly I do stick with the same size for everything, including clothing I purcase from overseas.

I don't live in the UK, and I don't queue in a post office. I package the returns, go online, book a pickup and pay, and leave the parcel on the doorstep the next day for whichever courier I chose to send it. If something isn't right I send it back immediately.

When it comes to footwear I buy what I know will be comfortable (I walk everywhere so comfort is the most important thing when buying shoes).

As I mentioned earlier, I HATE trying on clothing in shops.

Many local urban and suburban high streets are already retailer-free, or close to. It’s only food and in-person services like hair/nails that open up. Oh, and charity shops and bookies.

I suspect the better thought-out and well-funded chains will survive in city centres and malls but, as a pp’s said, independent retailers will more or less disappear from bricks and mortar premises.

I’m told that rents have a lot to do with it. I’ve never understood the economics of that but I guess landlords do.

Clothes retail stores will cluster in large cities. In person shopping needs to be a leisure experience with a large variety of stores plus cafes, restaurants and other entertainment (since you need to appeal to families/groups who have members who don't just want to shop). To support that, you need large amounts of footfall so clustering makes sense. People from a wide area can then travel in for a day out with shopping. Cities also benefit from having the commuter population so already have people drawn in for work every day who can then use the shops.

Small town and suburban retail will shrink and just be focused on food and in-person services like hairdressers as there is not sufficient footfall for clothes retail to work when lots of purchasing is done online.

Some touristy orientated small towns will support a bit more given they have more footfall but tends to be more arts/antiques/high end local food type shops as people don't tend to buy a bog standard pair of school trousers as a memento from a holiday.

Small towns should be braver and shrink the retail spaces and allow easier conversion to other uses (particularly housing) as lots of closed shops is both unattractive and sad when we have a housing crisis. Accepting the reality of the situation and redesigning/shrinking their shopping focused areas is much more sensible than trying to pretend it isn't happening.
They should focus on making their areas attractive to spend time in so the people using hairdressers/pharmacy/nail salon are also drawn to linger in the cafes and restaurants so making space for outdoor dining, making areas greener, providing seating space etc.

Our lovely small market town in Devon has, so far, managed to maintain a varied high street and its charm. There are chains and independents in both retail and services, as well as a daily indoor market and outdoor/farmers markets at the weekend. But it's fairly rare. I count myself lucky to be within easy reach and when we move, in the next few years, a similar high street will be a high priority.

I think more stores will be gone and replaced by out of town retail. If I go to the high street, nothing is in stock, parking is extortionate (more than p&p for the items I'm going to buy). I usually order click and collect to an out of town location with free parking then have a browse while I'm there and invariably buy more items. I think shops aimed at teens still so well on the high street.

The way to get people back into shops is either free parking or better park and ride in my local city. The Park and ride is utterly shit and takes longer than driving in and parking. But the parking charges are very expensive. The public transport from my village is hourly but sporadically misses us or is unreliable so not always a good option either. Plus it also takes way longer so a trip that might take me 1.5 hrs could take all day. I actually hate shopping so never do all day at the shops, I find it exhausting and soul destroying.