The UK high street retail sector
Posted on in Business News
A new survey focusing on small retail businesses has revealed a few surprising findings.
The survey, conducted by Display Wizard, asked retail businesses of between 1 - 25 employees on the perks and pitfalls of running their business.
Primarily dealing with independent shop owners along with café, pub and restaurant owners, the survey featured a range of questions from the best advertising methods to the potential effects of Brexit.
With the UK high street having well-publicised problems competing with the triple threat of low online retailer prices, rising rents and economic uncertainty, the survey aimed to get to the bottom of the challenges for these businesses, as well as uncover some welcome cause for optimism.
Some key findings from the report:
- 56% of retail business owners state that expensive high-street rents are the biggest threat to their business. This was followed by online shopping, an economic downturn and competition from large retailers
- 62% of participants chose print advertising as the most effective means of advertising, favouring this method over online marketing. The second most-effective method of generating new business was surprisingly word-of-mouth.
- 55% of small retail business owners forecasted a positive future for their business. Many retailers remained hopeful that the advantages of shopping in-store such as the ability to speak to retail experts and sampling goods would help physical stores thrive in a challenging environment.
The full results of the survey can be seen in the infographic below:
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