Market Insight: Top Story

Mary Portas, star of BBC TV show Mary: Queen of Shops, gave her vision for the future of retail at the Future Trends Stage today. Rather than basing selling strategies on products, which she said are a given, she forecast that the future of retailing will lie in service.

Attracting more than 430 people, most of which had to watch on TV screens outside the area, Portas ran through a presentation that painted the picture of a retail future that would be led by expertise and customer experience, rather than price and product ranges.

The implications of such a focus are positive for independent retailers, which are being swamped by competition from grocers’ moving into non-food sectors. “You can’t compete against them,” she said. “You just can’t.”

Portas said that independent stores can build up their services and differentiate themselves from multiple retailers by creating efficient, good-looking stores that shoppers will enjoy visiting and by providing the service of expertise.

As well as differentiating their offer, stores will have to work harder than ever to get shoppers through the door – not because of the credit crunch, but because they no longer need to go shopping because of an increase in online retailing. “Shopping will become a leisure activity,” she said.

Because of this, Portas said that retailers will have to work harder to make sure that shoppers enjoy their time in the stores and create a retail destination rather than a shop. “In the future, retailers will become purveyors of lifestyle,” she stated.