The internet has revolutionised the way people shop nowadays. As a result, high street retailers need to recognise that their customers’ buying habits are going to change…that’s if they haven’t already! Businesses are having to expand and re-evaluate their distribution channels in order to accommodate the things that existing and potential customers are looking for. For example, online shopping is becoming more popular than ever before, so the need for a high street store is rapidly becoming nonessential.
More and more people these days are becoming less involved with high street retails stores. All the thanks have to go to the world of ecommerce! The sheer convenience that it provides is exactly why so many people in the UK prefer buying things online over the conventional method of going into a store. Why would you feel the need to travel all the way into a store just to buy a pair of jeans, when you can get them delivered to the comfort of your home with a few clicks of your phone for next to nothing. Over the last 5-10 years, the increase in ecommerce stores and the subsequent decline in traditional high street retail has seriously impacted the shopfitting industry.
For fit-out contractors (link to fit out service page - https://www.kdmshopfitting.com/services/fit-out/) in the UK, the usual market is changing everyday due to the continuing decline of high street retail. More online retailers are not going to need their usual chains of outlets and retail stores refurbished to the level that they may have had done previously. A lot of which may only need to work from warehouses and distribution centres, and some may not need their stores at all.
The number of applications to build new retail outlets has been falling for a number of years now, however, the market still provides work opportunities for shopfitting contractors. The need for greater space to hold stock may present contract of a larger scale, just not to the high-end level that, for example, a high street retail store would require. Ecommerce has been a major factor of the recent changing environment within the shopfitting industry, a trend that is likely to continue.
So, what’s next? The focus for fit out contractors is to examine the market place and look for potential clients that may have not been an option to begin with. For example, target businesses that do not require space to sell products but instead require aspects such as an aesthetically pleasing reception, welfare and office space for the benefit of its clients and an area for its staff to operate on a regular basis. This may not be appealing to some Shopfitting/fit out contractors but like all sectors we need to adapt to survive and prosper.
