Is the High Street Dead?

It’s been a pretty busy one this month at Kitchen Table Projects. We’ve spent lots of time making  our website awesome, chatting to loads of Amazing Artisans, picking up some hints and tips from the Industry Insiders on our blog, and discovering what fellow foodies love to eat, where they like to buy it, and what they want to see on their high street. We love shopping at independents, so can see why you guys do, too. While the media are readily hailing the ‘death of the high street’, 2 out of every 3 foodies who have taken part in our questionnaire told us they choose to shop at an independent grocer at least once a week. In fact, whilst 60% of you said that you get your weekly shop from a big chain supermarket, 45% said that they visited their local market at least once a month - How great is that?!

And whilst it’s undeniable that the supermarket giants are king for convenience, 75% of you guys told us that you are bored are what you see there and love to discover interesting new products and support independent trade. So is the future of the high street all that cloudy?

With 2.5 billion internet users across the globe, we are constantly driven by what we see, read and who we talk to on the internet. You might be reading this blog on some kind of mobile device, and chances are you Tweet, Facebook your friends, and Instagram all your pictures quicker than you can say ‘Valencia’ (that’s an photo filter - for those of you not so versed in the terms of the insta-world). It’s quick and it’s accessible, and for many retailers, it’s ideal. The power of the ‘click-and-buy’ has made shopping online easier than ever, and it’s predicted that by 2015 90% of music, 70% of books and 40% of electricals will be bought over the internet. 

That sounds like pretty bad news for the high street, right? Well actually, no. 50% of you guys told us that you rarely or never shop online, choosing to pound the pavements and take to the high street to pick up your weekly shop. What’s more, every single one of you guys that took part in our questionnaire told us that they wanted to see more independent retailers on our high streets.

So is the high street really dying, or is it just that our ideas about what we want to see there are radically changing? Despite living our lives on the internet, retail experts have insisted on a continued desire for bricks-and-mortar shops. We are humans after all, not robots (well, for now anyway), and social interaction as well as the opportunity to look at, touch and smell a product remains a huge pull of the physical retail experience. 

Retailers have responded to this by adopting experiential shopping destinations; places that incorporate the virtual social world into the the physical retail shop. These shops are no longer solely focused on the transaction, but instead aim to offer a social experience which is both entertaining and pleasurable for the shopper. Think about the last time you visited your local high street. Was there some kind of interactive experience? Did you tweet about something you saw there? Chances are you didn’t just walk in, make your purchase and leave; shoppers now expect destinations which are both fun and interactive to shop at.

We think this is great. At Kitchen Table Projects we’re all about championing the high street, and think that it’s really important to enhance the retail experience, not only for our customers, but for our artisans, too. We’re creating a space for artisans to share their stories with the people who can’t wait to discover them, and to collaborate with other producers. Experience is at the heart of everything we do, and we believe that everything is better when we work together.

But do you agree with what we’re saying, or do you really think that the high street is on it’s way out? Do you live for online shopping or are you in love with independents? We want to know what you want to see on your high street so we can create a food hub that you love to shop at, buying the food that you love to eat. You can help us do this by sharing your thoughts here, or if you’re just curious to find out some more interesting facts from our foodie research, then head on over here. We want to revolutionise retail, and with your help, we can be one step closer to doing so!