Standing out

In March 2019, the nation was placed under house arrest. No eating out, shopping, or socialising meant retailers and restaurants had to pull down their shutters and to pivot to e-commerce or risk never opening their doors again. But in 2021 as brands welcome back shoppers in-store and online, how can they satisfy their customers' renewed appetite for the retail experience?

In this episode of Retail Reawakened, we dissect the shopping experience. On the macro level, we find out why high streets need to evolve and break away from the decades-old model they've followed for so long. And we get granular and ask what it is that makes for a top-notch shopping experience, whether online or in-store. Plus, we reveal why brands should never assume what the consumer wants and why they must prioritise understanding the needs of their customers above all else.

Brands don't stick around for 300 years out of sheer luck, they harness a winning recipe of great staff, excellent products and thoughtfully curated shop floors to attract and retain a loyal customer base. Former Director of IT at Fortnum and Mason, Tony Longhurst, shares with us the iconic London brand's formula for delivering the best customer experience. He explains what it is that turns a sales associate from good to great, why the layout of a store should be as thoughtfully considered as the products it is stocked with, and why brands need to recognise the diversity of their customers' expectations in order to meet their needs.

When Arcadia group went into administration in 2021, many wondered if this was the death knell of the high street. But rather than heralding the end of town and city shopping districts, the turmoil of the last eighteen months may actually mark an evolution in our high streets. And no one is a bigger proponent for the evolved high street than Stockton Town Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Nigel Cooke. He tells us about Stockton's "bold new vision" for the high street and why it's doing away with a shopping centre in favour of more green and communal spaces. And he imparts a word of warning to those who think the key to a successful high street is a reliance on shops.

Retailers and restaurants had to rapidly adopt e-commerce at the start of the pandemic to keep trading, but now it has become evident that digital retail is here to stay. But how do you bring an amazing in-store shopping experience online? CEO of digital transformation specialists, Red Badger, David Wynne, believes the key to offering great e-commerce solutions is knowing what customers want. He explains why brands should never offer digital solutions just for the sake of it and he reveals the one thing all customers are after when shopping online. And we hear from Adyen's own Conversion Expert, Sam Allan, about how retailers can extend the in-store feel online and how they can make their customers feel safe and secure at the checkout.

If you want to find out more about enhancing customers' in-store and online shopping experiences, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research report.