Death of the high street – 50 per cent of all retail could move online by 2044

Image: Scillystuff

Will the high street become a thing of the past as we turn to the internet for all of our retail therapy needs? Research from Yomdel predicts the complete death of the high street by 2082, but that it will contract by a half by 2044.

Using retail sales data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Yomdel analysed data on the proportion of retail sales already carried out online. The conclusion: the prominence of online shopping has grown dramatically since 2007.

In 2007, the average number of online sales as a proportion of all retailing was just 3.3 per cent but so far in 2018, online sales already account for 17.5 per cent of all retail transactions. This has grown steadily over the last 10 and a half years at an average increase of 1.29 per cent a year.

Following this trend, the research shows that by 2024, a quarter of all retailing could be done online, with this hitting 50 per cent by 2044. While it looks set to take some time longer, this could increase to three-quarters of all retailing by 2063, with the bricks and mortar retail outlet becoming instinct by 2082 as 100 per cent of retailing moves online.

Business growth expert and Yomdel CEO, Andy Soloman, commented:“As a company that has pioneered innovation in business through technology, we welcome any development that can help improve a business, both from a professional and consumer standpoint. This research shows how prominent technology and the internet is becoming in our day-to-day shopping habits, and further innovation to the retail sector could even see the high street struggle to compete a lot sooner than these figures suggest.

However, we believe the human element is absolutely vital in commerce - even with the best technology - and particularly when dealing with complex customer enquiries. Rather than the high street becoming obsolete, we like to believe it will survive and evolve to deal with the changing face of consumer behaviour as people will always value that personal aspect that a physical shop provides.

What’s perhaps more important for high street retailers to consider, is how they not only pivot with the times but integrate a successful solution into their current offering to accommodate a growing preference for customers to approach and engage with their business online. This could be through a more engaging website, web-based contact options such as automated contact forms, a well-formed FAQs section or a managed live chat service. The internet isn’t going away, but there’s more than enough room for everyone to exist and to use it to our benefit.”