Has the future of high street shopping been dealt a final fatal blow by Covid-19?

THE pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in the demand for online shopping with new studies suggesting it has hastened the decline of the already struggling high street shops.  

With most people at home during lockdown over the past year, the only option was to shop online. From food shopping, clothing, homeware, garden furniture and even custom made cakes, you can find and purchase anything.

Many people took to apps and website browsers to hunt for their fashion trends to get them delivered straight to their door. For the high street retailers, this just intensified their struggle as they were forced to close for months under government Covid restriction orders. 

Millions of pounds have already been lost in sales for the retailers and for many working in the sector they have suffered a personal tragedy as they have lost their jobs.

According to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) nearly 180,000 retail jobs were lost in 2020, with predictions that this could double again this year.

Closure of some retail shops haven’t all been linked to Covid, retail expert, Clare Bailey said: “The digital revolution and the pandemic have simply accelerated the timescale. Big department stores and city-centre shops haven’t adapted to contemporary consumer needs”.

With the use of technology increasing and the demand for fast, easy and quick purchases, could this pose a threat for even more high street retailers having to permanently close their doors?

In 2020 the UK saw 17,500 retail shops permanently close their doors, with worries there could be more for retailers such as Debenhams and some John Lewis stores too.

Market analyst, Susannah Streeter, told the BBC, ”Debenhams has been the key anchor store in city centres for decades, but fell behind fashion trends, whilst locked into long leases with rising rents with underperforming online sales."

Topshop has been one of the retailers that have had to close its high street shops permanently having gone into administration in 2020. Susannah said: ”Topshop was still the leader of the high street fashion pack a decade ago, but underinvestment in e-commerce and social media, saw it leapfrogged by savvy online rivals like Boohoo and ASOS."

Saved by ASOS, Topshop was bought for £295 million to feature and be sold on the online shopping giant. 

ASOS, one of the top and most well-known fashion brands online, saw 23.4 million active customers in 2020, with an increase of retail sales of 19%. Offering regular discount codes, student discount and free next day delivery for £9.95 for the year, it’s no wonder more and more people are flocking to online shopping.

With Susannah adding, 2021 will be a "year of painful evolution” for the retail industry.

So with high street retailers reopening after yet another lockdown, will they be just as busy as they once were?

High street shopping gives you a chance to ‘look before you buy' browsing the store for styles, patterns, colours and textures you like the look of. A day out to enjoy in your favourite town or city, away from a screen.

Speaking to Anne New who previously enjoyed shopping in the centre of Bristol said: “I think the high streets need to reinvent themselves. 

It will be a different experience as many shops haven’t survived, they need a new way to entice us back confidently as we’ve all grown use to online shopping”.

With Susannah further explaining: "Department stores can still thrive if they provide the experience the customer craves. Items like footwear can be very difficult to get right online”.

Social distancing will still be in place in shops, with a limit of people allowed in at once and customers unable to use changing rooms in the shops for the foreseeable future. 

It’s adjustments from the pandemic that need to be met to allow for safety but could this create a higher drop in high street shopping with more people still opting for online. 

With shops reopening we may see our high streets get back to how they once were but it’s unpredictable to say just how ‘normal’ our high streets may be with the empowerment of online shopping increasingly growing.