PREPARING HIGH STREETS FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY Bill Grimsey Retailer
PREPARING HIGH STREETS
FOR THE 21ST CENTURYBill Grimsey
Retailer
HIGH STREETS ARE A MORE RELIABLE MEASURE OF
THE ECONOMY THAN ECONOMISTS’ FORECASTS Examine the innovations over the last 45 years that have
changed the structure of the retail industry
Understand what led to retail winners and losers over this period
Outline the issues facing the retail sector today
Imagine the impact of technology on the retail sector in ten years’ time
Set out a course of action for the government to take in order to prepare our high streets and town centres for the 21st
century
BILL GRIMSEY, RETAILER
Retailer with 45 years’ experience
Specialist in fresh foods
First Customer Service Director for Tesco in the 1980s
Worked as a CEO for more than 20 years:
Park‘n’Shop Hong Kong
Wickes DIY Ltd
Iceland Frozen Food Ltd
Focus DIY Ltd
AUTHOR:
‘SOLD OUT’- WHO REALLY KILLED THE HIGH STREET
www.vanishinghighstreet.com
THE GRIMSEY REVIEW:
AN ALTERNATIVE
FUTURE FOR
THE HIGH STREET
NOW LEADING AN ADVISORY GROUP TO
THE LABOUR PARTY IN THE UK
Compiling Policies for high streets and town centre regeneration as
community hubs
Diversifying and strengthening the role of BIDs (Business Improvement Districts)
Pioneering the look and feel of our future high streets by encouraging, incentivising and supporting entrepreneurs to develop new businesses and concepts
Restoring high streets and town centres as the heart of modern communities by transforming them into dynamic enterprise and community service hubs, enabled by cutting edge digital infrastructure
UK RETAIL SECTOR TODAY
95,000 Companies
Employing £326bn of Gross Assets
Borrowing £65bn
Total Net Worth £135bn
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Defense budget Education budget Health budget Retail sector
Va
lue
(£
bill
ion
s)
UK RETAIL SECTOR TODAY
Bigger than:
Education budget: £53bn
Defense budget: £24bn
Health Budget: £110bn
Yet there is no Minister for High Streets at the
cabinet table.
GB SHOP VACANCY 2008-2014
0,0
2,0
4,0
6,0
8,0
10,0
12,0
14,0
16,0
18,0
2008-12
2009-02
2009-04
2009-06
2009-08
2009-10
2009-12
2010-02
2010-04
2010-06
2010-08
2010-10
2010-12
2011-02
2011-04
2011-06
2011-08
2011-10
2011-12
2012-02
2012-04
2012-06
2012-08
2012-10
2012-12
2013-02
2013-04
2013-06
2013-08
2013-10
2013-12
2014-02
SOURCE LOCAL DATA COMPANY (LDC LTD)
NORTH VS SOUTHSOURCE LOCAL DATA COMPANY (LDC LTD)
YOU CAN’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE TODAY,
OR WHERE YOU NEED TO GO IN THE FUTURE,
WITHOUT LEARNING LESSONS FROM THE PAST.
Pounds, shillings and pence
Pricing using a stamp called a “plonker”
Out of town shopping did not exist
High street was my mother’s social media
Supermarkets in the high street at 1,000 square
metres
People shopped frequently out of necessity
WHAT HAS CHANGED IN 45 YEARS? Out of town shopping
De-seasonalised Fresh Food
The BAR CODE
Power shifted from manufacturers and brands to retailers
The ‘WWW’ facilitated ‘sofa shopping’
Mobile devices
Is the power about to shift again? This time to customers?
AN A-Z OF RETAIL CASUALTIES
Athena, Bejam, C&A,
Comet, Dillons, HMV,
…right through to Unwins,
Victoria Wine, Woolworths,
YHA Adventure Shops and
Zales.
WHY DO RETAILERS FAIL?
Fail to predict and adapt to change. Positioning is vital. Look at HMV!
Laden with too much debt pre-financial crisis 2008
Now they have too much space as consumers switch to on-line shopping
In 5-10 years time in the UK one of the ‘Big 4’ will die!
The question is which one? Morrisons, or Sainsbury’s?
MULTI-CHANNEL RETAILING
Bricks and Mortar
Click and Collect
On-line vital
Useful Apps
Wi-Fi in store
TECHNOLOGY ON THE RAMPAGE
Click and Collect: a 5-10 year life
Smart depositaries at home
Wearable devices: Google Glass
App development
Stores without stock
Hologram fashion displays
Mirrors which allow you to ‘wear’ the product
One day even ‘gooey’ screens that adapt to the material
PARADIGM SHIFT REQUIRED
CUSTOMER SERVICE is just not good enough for tomorrow
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE is the new dimension
SAVING HIGH STREETS AS RETAIL
DESTINATIONS IS THE WRONG EMPHASIS Re-invent them as COMMUNITY HUBS focusing on:
Housing
Education
Health
Entertainment
Leisure
Arts, crafts, even manufacturing with 3D printing
technology advancing
AND YES, because of foot traffic - some, but fewer,
shops
TOWN CENTRE COMMISSION
Local Government commissions a process that: Identifies a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for the place
Creates a 20 year vision to transform the town
Creates a detailed 5 year business plan
Holds a public meeting to present the vision and plan
Holds a public meeting annually to account for progress
Puts in place Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure progress
Creates implementation plan with public/private funding and ownership
KEY TO SUCCESS Attract people to live, work, play and visit through USP
Density of people: more ‘in-town’ housing
Promote education in town for all generations
Aging population profile requires health and entertainment
centres
Develop defined daytime/evening/night time cultures
Wire the high street with free Wi-Fi
Transform libraries as centres of excellence for technology
Create a local economic blueprint and engage the
community
Avoid a ‘clone town’ proposition
Incentivise specialist shops
FAIL TO PLAN…PLAN TO FAIL
Pace of change is accelerating
Paradigm shift in thinking
Political WILL is required from central and local
governments
Legislation required to cut through red tape
Empower locally
Dare to imagine the unimaginable
Create a legacy to be proud of