Despite wanting to shop in bricks and mortar stores – especially boutique and independent shops – consumers are being put off because they simply can’t find them as they have no mobile or online presence, suggests a survey.
Shopping inspiration app Udozi polled the views of 2000 consumers and that a third (33%) of Brits want to see more boutiques and independent stores on local high-streets, while nearly 1 in 5 (19%) would like to see more pop-up stores opening up locally.
But despite this, almost 60% think that they are too expensive, 15% are not shopping in independent stores because they simply don’t know where to find them, and over 10% say that a lack of mobile/online presence is putting them off as they can’t research key store and product information on-the-go.
The Udozi research reveals that national retailers are still the number one shopping location for over 30% of consumers, and John Lewis (29%), Debenhams (28%) and Primark (22%) ranked top of the ‘most desirable places to shop’ list. But national retailers need to adapt if they are to survive the current economic climate as consumer frustrations associated with shopping in high-street chains include over-crowding in-store (37%), items not being in stock (24%), long queues for the changing rooms (22%) and not being able to find the right products (19%). According to the research, food and drink stores provide the most ‘likeable’ high-street shopping experience for British consumers, whilst over half (58%) of Brits dislike their local high-street shopping experience when looking for fashion items.
Alan Gabbay, Founder, Udozi stated, “Despite the demand for more independent retailers on Britain’s high-streets, failure to keep up with the latest technological innovations such as mobile means that many potential customers are unable discover London’s hidden boutiques. Independent stores need to evolve and learn to embrace all channels for customer engagement if they want to survive – especially in times of austerity.”
