Partner Article

Three million shoppers leave high street

New online research of British consumers from Casio shows that Christmas shoppers are set to spend even less time on the high street this festive season.

The survey of over 2000 British consumers showed around 3.2 million of us will not buy a single present on the high street for Christmas this year, a 40% rise on last year’s figure. For those who are still taking to the shops, the survey indicates that they are spending less time there. The percentage of those who will spend less than half (10-40%) of their time on the high street this year stands at 31%, a noticeable rise from 28% in 2011, while the percentage of those spending over half their time (60-100%) has dropped from 41% in 2011 to 39% this year, a loss of 898,936 people.

To shed some light on this behaviour, consumers surveyed revealed their least favourite aspect of shopping on the high street for Christmas this year. Those who will celebrate Christmas and buy presents on the high street citing overcrowding in-store (36%) and long queues (22%) as the main turn-offs.

Glimmers of hope: The human touch

However, the survey also hinted at a possible recovery for the high street in the future. Nearly half (49 per cent) of UK adults said interacting with other people was important when shopping in-store.

Of those surveyed, the public’s favourite aspects of high street shopping for Christmas this year include simply wandering around looking for inspiration (26%), and being able to see and touch products (25%). The ability for shoppers to carry the goods away there and then also proved popular (13%).

The research conducted by YouGov also showed:

• Almost 444,000 consumers in Wales(19%) will not buy any presents on the high street for Christmas this year; almost three times the national average
• Just two per cent of Brits are looking forward to dealing with store staff this festive season
• Over a third of 18-24 year olds (34%) most enjoy heading to the high street this Christmas for gift ideas and inspiration

Guy Boxall, Senior Product Marketing at Casio Business Division commented: “Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Casio .