What gets measured gets done: Assessing High street and Town Centre Attractiveness.

Description

For the past decade, town centre footfall has been decreasing year on year. More and more retailers on our high streets are becoming less immune to this downturn – with Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser being recent casualties of store closure. It is commonly argued that online shopping is driving customers away from high streets and town centres. But is this really the only reason? And what can be done to revitalise our town centres and high streets?

While many attempts have been to counter the alarming developments, the question of how to effectively support High Streets and Town Centres in order to secure their socioeconomic role as vital hearts of a local community remains unanswered. In particular, what we do not know is why  footfall is declining in High Streets and Town Centres.

A core issue underlying the crisis is the relative disadvantage of town centres and high streets in terms of their consumer-perceived attractiveness as shopping destinations. We need to better understand

• why consumers turn their back on town centre and high street shopping and
• how high streets and town centres can improve their offering in order to give consumers a reason to re-engage.