the current high street retail business model is failing today's shoppers
The British high street is continuing to diminish.
So much so that it appears that the high street as we know it may soon become obsolete as both independent and chain stores feel the (1)_________. In an interview last month, chairman of Marks & Spencer, Archie Norman, said that the business was on a ‘burning platform’ and said unless the company changes and develops ‘in decades to come there will be no M&S.’
According to ParcelHero’s David Jinks, between 2020 and 2030 half of the UK’s existing shop (2)_________ will have disappeared. 100,000 stores will close, leaving just 120,000 shops on our high street. One in eight shops are currently boarded up, and that’s because by 2030 e-commerce will (3)__________ for around 40 per cent of all UK retail sales.
Shoppers continue to be driven away from Britain’s town centre’s by restrictions on parking. Motorists have complained about the rising charges, fewer spaces and spaces that are too small.
Brexit has also pushed an unprecedented uncertainty onto businesses, regarding the future of stocks, shares, interest rates and the value of the pound which may cause a drop in confidence and therefore sales.
ONS retail statistics show that last Christmas’s retail figures, usually the highest, (4)______ to their biggest fall for over four years, while online sales rose 21.3 per cent.
Retail giants fall
In the past 10 years, Brits have seen a number of their favourite shops close their doors. Notably, the 100-year-old Woolworths in 2008, Blockbusters in 2013, BHS in 2016 and Toys ‘R’ Us falling into administration in 2018. The trend has continued with 21,355 retail workers being (5)____________ in the first six months of 2018. How long can the sector continue?
Toys ‘R Us’ shouldn’t have positioned themselves as a location to ‘go and buy toys, instead they should have repositioned themselves as the place to ‘experience’ toys and fun activities including entertainment sections in store, face painting zones and coffee centres for parents.
John Lewis and Tesco fighting back
Yet retailers are fighting back through their own internet sites. John Lewis is one company pushing ahead online: 25 per cent of its sales are now through the internet; that’s more than its Oxford Street flagship sells. And Tesco’s revenue is £2.9 billion online, second only to Amazon. ‘In a way this is cannibalism; these sales will be at the expense of companies’ own physical stores.
There is some hope for the future, he adds. High Streets must return to a Victorian model, where shopping is a more social experience. Homes must also return to UK high streets to prevent no-go areas after 6pm. ‘It has already been shown that home deliveries are far greener than shoppers climbing into their cars to visit various stores. We must all learn to adapt to the rise of e-commerce and introduce new reasons for us all to return to our town centres.
it’s a matter of adapt or die for high street retailers. ‘People love the (6)___________ and confidence of selling and buying online now. We allow traders to sell stock at a competitive price. It’s also beneficial for the customers as well, considering we are a marketplace, they can compare prices from different retailers. Shops on the high street need to adapt if they want to compete with online retailers and therefore survive in today’s digital age’.
EXERCISES
1. Put the words in the blank spaces
a. laid off b. ease c. brunt d. account e. slumped f. premises
2. Find in the text the synonims to the following words:
GO BANKRUPT ESPECIALLY
COVERED WITH PANELS RETALIATE
3. choose A, B, C from the following questions
1. what is the meaning of the expression "flagship" in blue in the text?
a.- the most important local
b.- a type of publicity in the streets
c.- an online commerce
2. what is the meaning of the expression "NET FIGURE" in the PICTURE?
a.- an amount of something
b.- online shop on the internet
c.- a quantity of money
3.- what is a "convenience store" in the PICTURE?
a.- some type of big supermarket
b.- retail business that stocks a range of everyday items
c.- a place to store your conveniences
4.- what is the meaning of "leave a dent" in the first video? a.- damage in confidence
b.- made an impact
c.- reduce noticeably
5.- what is the meaning of "knock-on effect" in the first video? a.- damage in confidence
b.- collateral damage
c.- direct impact
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