UK physical stores remain resilient, but online sales remain weak

Tribe ’s report , based on a survey of e-commerce and multi-channel merchants in Germany, Lithuania, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK , found that in these countries, 40% of online retailers intend to open physical stores within the next three years.

However, the report shows that different countries have very different ideas about opening offline stores.

In Spain and the UK, 69% and 61% of respondents respectively said they would like to open a physical store in the future , but in the Netherlands, only 2% of merchants have this idea .

Given the current economic climate, many European consumers are struggling to withstand inflationary pressures, especially soaring food and fuel prices, making it extremely difficult to analyze the health of the high street.

For example, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales fell by 0.1% in June, following a 0.8% drop in May. Sales were 2.2% above pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, but were down on last year.

The data showed that sales in what the National Bureau of Statistics calls "non-store retail" - mainly e-commerce - fell 3.7% in June 2022, but were still up 20.8% from February 2020 levels.

The ONS data also suggests that if e-commerce sales have been more affected by the recent fall in consumer confidence, it may be because the sector experienced excess growth in 2020 and 2021.

The UK's high streets have shown a resilience that online shops cannot match , which explains why many UK online shop owners are planning to open physical stores.

Another report from Tribe found that British consumers’ nostalgia for physical stores presents opportunities for sellers that can provide a dual online and offline shopping experience.

The report points out that merchants who can integrate the features of online stores into physical stores can provide consumers with a more perfect shopping experience.

According to Digital Shopping Playbook, UK shoppers who order online and pick up in-store are likely to experience 10% fewer problems than the average UK shopper.

However, Digital Shopping Playbook points out that British consumers are not interested in using smartphones to improve their shopping experience in physical stores. Among the many countries surveyed, the UK is the only country where the number of people using smartphones for offline shopping has not increased significantly.

U.K.

Physical Store

Europe