The Logic Group Blog

“The death of the high street” has been bandied about over the last eighteen months, and clearly makes for good headlines. So, it was no surprise to see the Centre for Retail Research make headlines (yet again!) with a research that claimed ‘one in five of Britain's high street shops could close by 2018 as more customers turn to the internet for their shopping’. The internet, especially mobile internet, is a driving force that is necessitating a business model rethink for some of the most established multinationals (!) – the message is clear: Innovate and adapt, or perish.

As a payment service provider and a customer interaction, loyalty and insight specialist, here are some ideas to help retailers fight back – bolster your high street presence.

The latest British retail figures from the ONS emerged recently for April, and for many retailers already feeling the strain on the high-street, they did not come as welcome news. Retail sales suffered their biggest drop in a year, blamed in part by the unusually cold weather in April and restricted household budgets, as consumers continue to feel the squeeze. Read the full blog article...

You may have seen our post last year on Apple snubbing NFC (near field communications) technology in its iPhone 5. This year, reports suggest that Apple is including NFC capabilities in its new iPhone design. This further fuels the speculation it will add payments to its Passbook allowing customers to pay, receive offers and collect loyalty points through their mobile device.

Retail Technology Business Expo (RBTE) this year was jam packed as ever, if not more. The technology for retail industry turned out to showcase the importance of successful omnichannel strategies and the role of new technologies in extending retail presence beyond the store.

Tourists love the UK shopping experience - so should you! Despite the UK’s economic status, the country can glory in the fact it’s the world’s most sought-after destination for tourists looking to splash their hard-earned cash. A recent study by VisitBritain indicates that the UK is still luring overseas shoppers to come and spend in its stores. Of the 18 million overseas visitors to the UK, 300,000 tourists only came to Britain for one reason – SHOPPING!

In this era of consumer fiscal austerity, customer retention and the encouragement of customer loyalty are two essentials in the survival tool kit for every company. One barrier to achieving this are those ‘promiscuous consumers’ who display no obvious loyalty to a store, instead choosing to shop around for the best bargains and, quite often, holding multiple loyalty scheme memberships. Assuming they are going to be profitable, can you tie them into the commitment of a (more) monogamous relationship with your company? The promiscuous customer is most likely to threaten shops and sectors in which loyalty is easily exchanged and in which innumerable confounding variables could explain why someone decides to switch their loyalty, if, indeed, it can be described as ‘loyalty’, elsewhere.

It’s unimaginable to envisage a supermarket with no customers, no check outs – manned or unmanned, gondola ends with tons of offers, and even the smell of freshly baked bread. But actually, Tesco has five and walk-in customers aren’t welcome. They’re not on the high street or even on retail parks. That’s because they are ‘dark stores’. They exist to serve the ever-growing needs for online shopping.

It’s ironic really: Tesco opened its latest ‘dark store’ in January and it created 700 jobs. In contrast, BlockBuster and HMV were slow to respond to the fast moving Internet-enabled business model, leading them into the red.

Technology has rapidly changed the high street...

A recent study by Deloitte found that in the hotel industry travellers’ purchasing decisions are being driven by having the best deal, with roughly 30% of hotel loyalty scheme members being “at risk” of switching their preferred brand for a better offer. This seems to be the case with an average of 50% of holiday makers’ annual hotel not being with their preferred brand.

This doesn’t come as a surprise when consumers are tightening their purse strings, as disposable incomes come under more pressure. As a result, hotels have been forced to consider discounting, couponing and throwing in freebies (four nights for the price of three, for instance) to retain and attract business. However, as seen in the retail industry, discounting is not a sustainable practice – and the hospitality industry also needs to explore long-term customer interaction strategies based on actionable insights.

At this time of year Valentine ’s Day is surrounding us all. But it’s not just on 14th February that you want your customers to love your business. Customers who positively value your business are more likely to spend more and return to you more regularly adding value back into your business. So, understanding what makes that happen is crucial to growth. Is Loyalty important?...

December retail sales have disappointed. British music industry loses the high street presence of HMV. Another few bite the dust. Britain gets a chilly welcome to 2013...

If you still need more evidence that the Internet has necessitated a rethink of customer engagement strategies, then you may as well shut shop and protect the few assets and cash-in-hand available to you. The onset of the Great Reinvention (as we’d like to refer to the economic depression that started in 2008), marked the beginnings of the evolutionary process that would be driven by the Internet and the shift to online business and shopping. To feign ignorance to the fact that we’re through the evolution phase (of four years) and are now stood at the chasm, would demonstrate poor judgement and a clear lack of understanding of the stark reality that faces us.