Lack of loyalty killed the retail store... Why do brands choose to push customers away?

Imagine a world where you treat your customers better when they don't come to your shops.

Well no need to imagine, that's the reality of the majority of the brands that occupy the high street these days. And 2021 saw a few more disappear Jaeger, TopShop, TopMan, Debenhams...

Going into town vs "going underground"

This weekend I took a leisurely stroll around Newcastle city centre, browsed a few shops and even tried on some new clothes. After 2 years of living in joggers, Birkenstocks and tie dye t shirts whilst working from home, I figured I may need to update my smart clothes.

I went into Dr Martens to try on some shoes, I've admired the British brand for some time. I like that they are embracing both traditional leather & vegan products. They have stayed true to their heritage and they don't seem to have sold themselves our to the corporate world.

They may not be as goth punk rocker as they once were, but they still have that edge and slightly non conformist element.

I'll also caveat now that I am a savvy shopper, 15+ years of working in eCommerce and marketing combined with growing up in a working class thrifty family mean that I know how to find a deal, so I always price check the market. Now the marketer in me also likes to support the brand and if possible I like to support my local area too.

But this weekend I first hand experience the reason why retailers are killing themselves "down on the streets"

I like a pair of boots. They cost ￡169.99 and I am not one of the "Rich Kids"

They are not cheap, this is a huge sum of money, but the trade off is when you buy Dr Martens, you buy a product that could last a lifetime.

You could buy fast fashion ￡20 throw away clothing, but that has an environmental impact that deserves it own article.

So a pair of boots costs ￡169.99 on the highstreet, the same as on www.drmartens.com. Great.

Or is it....

The minute I hit said website, I'm served 3 messages that tell me in exchange for an email address, they'll give me 10% off my order & free shipping. Or if I'm a student (Sadly, those days are long gone) I'll get 10% off my order & free shipping.

I'm ￡16.99 better off by not buying in shop.

Dr Martens will even knock ￡15 off if I use BNPL (buy now pay later) saving me a total of ￡30.49 (though again this warrants its own article in itself too!)

Or, I could go to a 3rd party seller like ASOS.COM and buy a pair in their regular 20% off sales that they do via both app & website and save myself ￡33.98!

What is the incentive to shop on the high street?

The cost of fuel, parking and a trip into town adds additional cost to the consumer, and even though you've done the hard part of having me in the shop, trying the product on, wearing them and falling in love with them in the shop, it's not worth my while to buy them.

I'm left thinking "don't you want me...baby?"

I can get the same product, cheaper and in most cases within 24 hours delivered to my door, oh and if it doesn't fit. I can return it for free.

Brands and retailers have placed more value on "customer data" than they have on getting feet through the door and giving you a meaningful experience.

Why not give customers 15% off for coming into your bricks and mortar shop, make the retail moment an experience, show me how to look after my purchase so it lasts longer.

Instead in this case Dr Martens (but this extends to the majority of brands on the high street) are effectively telling me that you'd rather me stay at home, give you my email address and then you can spend ￡000s targeting me with emails, Facebook Ads, Instagram stories, VOD adverts and in some cases TV ads on some "suspect device" to try and get me to come back and buy a product I once had in my hands.

Where is this heading?

This short sighted approach then fuels a world where for you to leverage my data you need to spend significant sums of money on CRM marketing tools, ongoing ad campaigns via digital channels and ATL media campaigns to remind you exist.

Now, there are some brands who are doing the retail high street well, however they often tend to by "designer" or premium brands where they invariably dont need/want to discount or independent brands where they know the experience is where they hit harder than larger brands as they can't do so on discount/price.

This issue isn't new news, it's the reason that a number of high street shops are vacant, or frequently changing hands. It's the reason that customers choose to shun a shop for a laptop.

It's the reason that 3rd party aggregator sites who don't use bricks and mortar are winning out. They offer a larger range, single shipping cost, next day delivery and free returns, and the frequently discount to keep you coming back. I recently wrote about this with some brands announcing new changes to their offerings

There is no doubt that Covid has had an impact on this and this was clearest in the bigger commuter cities, only time will tell how this recovers over time.

It's not just "London Calling", Europe is changing too... just slower.

It's strange that when I visit family in Europe they don't see to have as fast of a change in this space, the high streets for now are still a thing and consumers haven't gone fully digital in how they shop and choose their experiences. I wonder if this is a nod to the more community/family bases psyche of the European consumers.

But it is changing, studies show Europeans are shopping online more, however their expectations are changing. French customers spend c8 hours researching a shoe purchase compared to the 2.5 hour average.

Well enough of my ranting and mumbling. It seems like we've hit a point where there is no coming back, I'd love to see brands like DM turn it around and make the high street a "thing" again, but it feels like profit growth and cost management will dictate the way this goes, maybe this is the "last caress" for the British high street.

And for those of you who wanted to know, these were the boots I liked... subtle!

I'd love to know what your thoughts are on the retail space and if you've had any similar experiences? Or even a great one!

Extra points for any of you who picked up all the song titles littered throughout this piece!