Could Magic Mirrors save the High Street?
A February 2020 report focusing on the Midlands area of the UK revealed that high street shoppers desire more leisure facilities to tempt them away from the ease of online shopping and out on to the streets.
Millennials are thought to be a major reason for this change in consumer behaviour. Statistics from 2019 suggest they spend half their disposable income on leisure experiences and want to see more of brick and mortar retail spaces taken up by these experiences. 90% of them then go on to share such moments on social media.
So in order to survive the high street needs to be redefined and the continuing advance of Experiential shopping or Retailtainment signifies this is beginning to happen
How does this experience look in practice?
Within a store itself VR and AR technology is providing immersive retail experiences such as large interactive screens that provide personalised information or games to play. Smart mirrors in changing rooms allow you to ask for a different size or product to try on without having to leave the cubicle.
More than providing a café as a meeting place some stores now offer the chance to play sport, listen to live music or take classes and workshops.
The shop itself can be designed to look like a home, so shoppers can test products in an appropriate setting (and back to the Millennials, offer many photo opportunities to snap a ‘grammable’.)
Outside the shop the blending of retail with entertainment events such as exhibition space, cinema, restaurants, escape rooms, and indoor golf offers even more opportunities to attract returning visitors. See also our blog post about Property trends of 2020 including the rise of Esports in this type of leisure market.
Could bricks and mortar shops still emerge as the fairest of all?
