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Portas’ longing for a resurgence of the high street carries with it more than just nostalgia. For many retailers, retaining a physical presence is vital – even in the face of growing online opportunities.

The modern day consumer is a multi-channel being who utilises a number of touch points in making each transaction, not always completing a purchase via the same medium. Indeed, recent research commissioned by Transactis shows that those customers who use a mix of media put in roughly 50% more orders, and spend nearly double, that of online-only or offline-only buyers.

Portas is right to say high streets are ‘in crisis’, but there is more going on in the retail sector than just that. The very nature of the customer journey is changing, and technological progress – smartphones, tablets, other portable devices – has made shopping a more complex process. There is also the lingering economic unease which has hit both high street and online operations, even though growth in online shopping remains strong relative to the rest of the retail sector.

However, the growth of internet shopping is actually levelling off as online is close to full maturity as a retail channel (Transactis Home Shopping Index 2011). The reality is that online shopping grew by just 8% last year, compared to nearly 60% in 2007. Furthermore, given that 83% of home shoppers under the age of 35 (where most growth was coming from) are already internet buyers who make 80% of their purchases online, there is far less scope for future online growth.

Companies who look at a single channel as the answer to all consumer needs, whether high street store, catalogue or website, are ignoring the most valuable customers: those looking to engage with brands through a variety of media. The high street, in actual fact, can be as important to e-commerce as the technological devices fuelling it: the physical drives the virtual, and vice-versa.

The web, then, is clearly now at the heart of a mix of channels, driving both online and offline retail activity, but companies who overlook the physical high street in favour of internet only commerce run the risk of destroying value and alienating consumers. Indeed, it is in having a complete view of all customers - physical, virtual, and multi-channel - that organisations are able to make decisions ‘in the round’. Failure to do so, or to recognise high street and online as co-dependent, can result in missed opportunities.

Richard Higginbotham, Head of Marketing, Transactis

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