Covid levelling the playing field on the high street
As the return of the high street draws closer, it offers the interesting question of what will the new normal be like? Will people return to previous habits and go back to the shops they visited pre-covid. In some cases, this choice has been taken away with retail mega brands like Debenhams soon being removed from high streets across the UK. Naturally with us all being trapped indoors a lot of us have switched to rely upon online retailers with the big brands like amazon continuing to soar which can be seen through online sales growing by 36% in 2020 while retail overall saw its lowest growth in over 25 years. Does this alter the parameters of what people want when going back to the high street?
The biggest opportunity for small independents is just around the corner as no businesses sales are safe giving them the chance to really impress and cement themselves within the cities they are operating within. At our very own Paragon Arcade we have numerous small independents itching to get started or re-opened and build their brand within Hull’s community. People that return to the high street are doing it not just to receive a product but to enjoy an experience putting more importance on customer service than ever before. This truly acts as a great opportunity for the independents across Hull City Centre that have a passion for the products they are offering.
Some local businesses did get established with an online store in order to continue operating during the pandemic such as HomeStead and Nordic Rosie and to allow their online presence to continue to develop. One thing that has always been clear within business is that trends change, and customer patterns can go from one extreme to another so post covid when people are able to get out and about within the city the excitement of face to face shopping and appreciating the design that goes into these independents really could act as an attraction to bring new customers in and allow them to flourish.
