NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:
3 WAYS TO SURVIVE ON THE HIGH STREET
THE EXAM QUESTION

During January we’ve spent some time examining the customer mindset at the start of 2023 and what brands can do to stay relevant. This week we look at what it might take, as people begin a new year in the midst of a continuing cost-of-living crisis, to motivate customers into physical stores.

What are the 3 key things retailers need to do in 2023 to stay relevant on the High Street?

Missed ‘3 things you need to know about customers’ or ‘3 things brands need to do’?

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THE ANSWER

In our first January FastQual installment we saw that the start of a new year is a time for reflection and re-appraisal and this has left many people grappling with a key conundrum: how do they continue to enjoy life sufficiently in a cost-of-living crisis?

They’ve spent 2022 cutting back on household bills and day to day expenses and know that during 2023 they’ll need to make more substantial savings. But with the restrictions of the pandemic still reasonably fresh in their minds, extreme denial doesn’t feel like an option. Simultaneously, a sense of doom surrounding national and global matters has people craving control and positive outcomes closer to home, where it is within their power.

All of this creates an opportunity for retailers to motivate shoppers into physical stores by helping their customers:

ENJOY LIFE IN A COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS

FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEIR COMPROMISES

FEEL IN CONTROL

THE APPROACH

We asked 40 of our FastQual ready respondents (a broad mix from above to below average affluence) to tell us all about how they feel towards new year resolutions, whether they’re making any this year, their hopes & fears for the year ahead, and what they want from brands and retailers in 2023.

SO WHAT?

While value strategies will help certain retailers survive, and even thrive, during 2023, for many people low prices aren’t enough to make a trip to the High Street.

By using physical stores to help resolve the conflict between costs and enjoyment, helping customers feel good about what they can do, and helping them to feel in control some of the time, retailers can provide spaces worthy of spending valuable time in.

Help customers enjoy life in a cost-of-living crisis

After the restrictions of a pandemic and then a year of making cut-backs, many people are now facing further sacrifice during 2023 with the need to spend less on homes, holidays, entertainment and clothing. For most this leads to one crucial question: how do I still make the most of the here and now? And this creates an opportunity for retailers to…

  • BE AN UPLIFTING EXPERIENCE
    Provide an environment, events, experiences and/or product displays worth leaving the house for. Don’t be a shop, be an out of home experience.
  • BE A PLACE TO MEET
    People are determined to keep getting together but have to cut back on expensive meals out and entertainment venues. Be somewhere they want to spend time together.
  • PROVIDE LITTLE LUXURIES
    When a lot of life has been stripped back to what is necessary, a tiny treat can be very meaningful. Tasters, free samples and free gifts are all motivating and disproportionately uplifting right now.
ALEEMA
I have never before had to worry about how long the heating is on for or how long I’m in the shower. It drags you down and we can’t let life be miserable.
ROBERT
It feels like we’ve been holding our breath for 3 years. I’m tired of having to work so hard just to go backwards. There’ll be cut backs this year but we have to find ways to enjoy it too.
JOSETTE
I’m trying to hold onto my David Lloyd membership because I get so much from the luxurious environment and they always go the extra mile to make the experience everything you pay for.

Help customers feel good about their compromises

People are reconsidering the affordability of substantial investments such as house moves, extensions and expensive holidays, as well as smaller outgoings such as wardrobe updates. Even when fully motivated to make sensible savings it can be tough to take, creating an opportunity for retailers to encourage…

  • CHANGING RATHER THAN CANCELLING
    People are very open to help with finding more affordable alternatives which still meet their needs. Help them to identify what they’re really missing out on and provide solutions within their budget.
  • RENTING OR SECOND HAND
    Extend the relevance of rentals in terms of both affordability (e.g. stretch from designer to more accessible brands) and usage occasion (e.g. stretch clothing from formal occasion wear to dinner out with friends). Bring good quality, curated second hand into physical stores.
  • ENTHUSIASM FOR WHAT IS STILL POSSIBLE
    It can be hard to feel enthusiastic when an extension becomes a make-over or two weeks abroad becomes a short break in a caravan. Help customers to get excited about what they can still do by showing them just how good the cheaper alternative can be.
SUZANNA
I know I can’t afford the usual holidays abroad and trips away this year but I still want to find a way to have adventure and travel in my life!
ELLEN
Disappointingly, because we really needed the extra space, we’re going to have to postpone moving house because of higher interest rates and not saving enough.
ERIKA
No new clothes for me this year, although I have discovered Ebay and Vinted. It’s not quite the same but at least I get to refresh my wardrobe a little.

Help customers feel in control

When powerful, negative forces fall outside of an individual’s sphere of control, there tends to be a craving for control in smaller matters. So, as people despair of positive outcomes for the economy, the NHS, the Ukrainian war or the planet, they look to take control over what’s immediately around them. Retailers can help customers feel in control of…

  • THEIR SPEND
    Clear, transparent pricing; prices fully justified by overt benefits, quality and trust; a variety of price points to choose from with relevance for different people, moods and usage occasions.
  • THEIR CUSTOMER JOURNEY
    Hassle and hiccup free and respectful of the amount of time an individual chooses to invest. Using people and technology appropriately and joining up the online and in-store in ways which make life easier without negating the decision to head to a physical store.
  • THEIR IMPACT
    On other people and on the planet (particularly the waste they help to produce in the form of packaging and thrown away food) and without additional personal cost.
MAX
I’m really worried about the impacts of cuts within the NHS and further privatisation making services more expensive. It’s all a big worry and we just have to wait and see what happens.
CLAIRE
So much of life seems out of our hands, with war, climate change, the economy, the NHS. Who knows what else is to come?
WILLOW
I worry about the amount of waste, for the planet and also when so many people are so desperate. Olio and Too Good To Go make me feel better about it but more brands need to do their bit.

In 2023 retailers can concentrate solely on value or they can help their customers resolve the  simmering tensions created by the cost-of-living crisis.  

To understand more about your customers’ tensions, get in touch with an Insight Sherpa.