Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/122387
ters. They don't just operate 9 to 5, they operate 24-7, and evening economy is becoming an increasingly more important part of the mix." This is why Debra Isaacson, an advertising executive from the Shepherds Bush area of London, has observed that High Street cinemas are increasingly offering music bars and light dining in an effort to bring more people out at night. The real threat to the High Street is not the mall, but online retail, opines Isaacson, who has two teen daughters. "That's where the High Street needs to make the shopping experience worthwhile to drive footfall," she said. But even the Internet could prove to be a friend of the High Street retailer, in the form of the hybrid click-and-collect method of shopping, whereby consumers purchase a product online and then pick it up at the shop. "There are plenty of shops, like Marks & Spencer, where you order it one day and they'll deliver it the next, but there are times, especially for home-improvement items, where it's just more convenient to go pick it up," said Isaacson. "I'll also do it when I have a mother-daughter day out planned. We'll sit together with the laptop at night and order stuff online, and the Primark, in derby's ciTy cenTre 176 SCT / m a y 2 0 1 3 TriniTy Leeds next day we'll leisurely go shopping and pick up the items, instead of having to cram everything into a short time." Brown calls the click-and-collect plan a potential lifesaver for High Street retail. "One of the challenges of the retail environment is to attract people into the physical space against the backdrop of competition online," he said. "And one of the biggest challenges for online retailers is the last mile: getting the product from the central distribution to the consumer's home, with the associated costs. That's why the clickand-collect model is an easy solution for the retailer: It enables the customer to come to the store and ensures we're getting shoppers back into physical spaces. The whole click-and-collect model is seeing significant growth in the U.K. It combines the best of both worlds in my mind; it allows the ability to browse products and compare prices online, [to] do your research before you buy it, and then [to] go in at a convenient time and pick it up." Even some non-click-and-collect retailers are committing themselves to the High Street. U.K. fashion retailer Primark's High Street presence has grown dramatically, even as it expands in major shopping centers. This year the chain is expanding into Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, with 250 stores. Germany, meanwhile, has placed a high priority on protecting urban retail, primarily by restricting out-oftown development. "The state of the High Street in Germany is robust, it