Do you like shopping? For shopaholics in the UK, the place to head to used to be the 'high street'. This location refers to the streets in the centre of a town where businesses and popular branches of retail¹ chains could be found. It was the place where you could find familiar fashion brands and essential everyday items. But change in our shopping habits has taken its toll² on the British high street.

 

News about shops losing money and shutting is now common. Some city-centre department stores have closed and even long-established retailers³ such as Marks and Spencer have reported profit slumps⁴. According to the accountancy firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the Local Data Company, a record 2,481 shops disappeared from UK high streets last year - up by 40%. Even some large warehouse-style stores in out-of-town retail parks, have gone bust⁵ and shut up shop.

 

As the BBC's Emma Simpson writes, things have become a lot harder for traditional retailers in recent years. They have faced rising costs from wages, business rates and the requirement to introduce Europe's new data law. But the biggest threat has come from online shopping. She says "Consumers now spend one in every five pounds online - and if businesses are seeing 20% fewer sales on the shop floor, as well as their fixed⁶ costs rising, then profit margins⁷ will be squeezed."

 

While some of us like to window shop – browsing⁸ for things to buy, only to purchase them online at a discount - the fact is that, overall, shoppers are making fewer visits to high streets. Eventually, town centres could become like ghost towns. If people aren't out and about shopping, they won't use other services, like cafes, restaurants and cinemas. It also results in job losses. The British Retail Consortium has already warned that 900,000 UK retail jobs could be lost by 2025. The high street has also suffered from the advent⁹ of big shopping malls, which offer a retail experience under one roof, with free parking, away from the bad weather!

 

Meanwhile, back on the high street, some shops still exist. Analysts¹⁰ have said it's those that have moved away from traditional retailing¹¹ that are surviving. These include beauty salons¹², nail bars and independent coffee shops – but are these kinds of shops enough to keep the British high street open for business?

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