Failing iconic stores must sell themselves
Invest in your shoppers or lose them for ever
Iabsolutely love shopping for clothes. In fact, I’m verging on addiction. But I don’t drink, smoke, gamble, do drugs or get into debt with my habit. It’s just a guilty pleasure.
Any amateur psychologist will trace this “need to shop” back to my childhood. We were poor, so hand-me-downs and homemade clothes were my only option then.
I started shopping for clothes as soon as I started earning my own money at the age of 16.
While studying at uni, I took on a weekend job as a sales assistant at Next. I got a discount on my clothes, and I helped other women put an outfit together. So I know a bit about shopping.
But my goodness, some of our most iconic high street stores have let themselves go. It feels like they haven’t changed since the 80s – no wonder the High Street is dead. Shops complain about parking, business rates, the pandemic and online competition.
But I ask the likes of Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Selfridges, what about taking responsibility and changing with the times? How about connecting with your customers and actually investing in creating a magical shopping experience so that people want to stay and not just walk straight out because they are so uninspired by what they see.
Take M&S, for example, I hadn’t been there for nearly two years, but as I was in town this week, I popped in. Well, I wish I hadn’t bothered. I felt I had been transported back in time – with horrendous lighting, row after row of boring, frumpy clothes, and no visible staff to help. I left without buying a single thing.
How can stores neglect their customers like that? Why haven’t they listened to their critics?
If I were in charge of a high street clothing store, I’d create different looks and put outfits together so customers could see what they look like.
I’d have stylists in store – you could make an appointment with them online, tell them the occasion and your size, and they’d have outfits ready for you to try on. I’d put on a fashion show at a set time every day. I’d have stylists, make-up artists and influencers streaming tips to social media platforms. I’d make changing rooms inviting.
I’m passionate about these iconic stores always having a presence on our high street, but they have an awful lot of work to do. The sad reality is that they will lose customers to the likes of Amazon, which is using AI technology in its first physical store in LA.
There, customers will use QR codes on their phones to give them all the info about the outfit they’re interested in.
If they want to try it on, they get it sent to the changing room via the code. If they want to buy it, they pay on their phone.
This is the future of the shopping experience – and our fuddy-duddy icons should keep up.