Internet contributes 100bn pounds to the UK Economy (have I been retargeted?) and the high street of the future.
Fabulous and heavily reported (if you include the Metro rail-rag) news with Google and Boston Consulting Group reporting the internet economy is worth £100bn to the British economy.
This is indeed great news, although slightly confusing. Have I been news-retargeted from a NMA article I read in 2006? The article’s headline was “Ecommerce sales exceed £100bn” and details that e-commerce sales exceeded £100bn for the first time in 2005, according to research released by the Office for National Statistics. This is either a case of truly impressive retargeting, brilliant PR work by BCG and Google, statistical shenanigans I don’t understand or just plain old fashioned Déjà vu.
Nonetheless, a large and growing internet economy is positive for the British economy during these challenging times but also raises some interesting questions for the traditional high street in the long run.
Internet sales and the high street will, in the most part, always need each other but the terms of that relationship will continue to shift over time.
If we accept more people are researching online and buying offline (eg. Reading car reviews and performance information online and then walking into the showroom to purchase offline) and simultaneously researching offline and buying online for other purchases (eg. deciding on your new television in-store and then finding the cheapest internet price when you return home), what will become of the role played by the High Street in the future? A showroom for future online sales (eg designer clothing)? An online order collection point (eg Argos?)
The answer probably varies wildly depending on what the store is selling and how quickly and intelligently they are embracing online. A physical shop on the high street is only one of many expanding touch-points for a potential customer. Having a strong online presence is more important than ever.
The old model of a retailer’s website simply being an extension of their high street presence will become obsolescent. The high street of the future may in fact be an extension of a retailer’s online presence.
