Most shoppers would be tempted back to the high street if retailers offer original and British made goods

Shoppers are bored with the current offering on the high street ... 

... according to Matthew Hopkins, founder of retail sourcing specialist The Great British Exchange following a survey that  revealed 91% of British shoppers would visit high street stores more frequently if they could buy items that are hard to find anywhere else. 

Hand screen-printed Christmas sack from The Handmade Christmas Co.
founded in 2012 by Louis Porter and Tom Coleman
to offer a modern alternative to the traditional Christmas stocking.
All products hand-finished in the UK in a London-based studio.
Photo: The Handmade Christmas Co.

At a time when bricks and mortar retailers are finding it challenging to compete with online businesses as we enter the crucial Christmas shopping season, Hopkins said it has never been more important for retailers to find a point of difference that sets them apart from the store down the road.

“Even more critical is the need to give consumers something they can’t find online,” he added in response to the findings that almost all shoppers questioned would use bricks and mortar stores more often if it meant being able to find something “unique” and two thirds said they wanted more locally made and British manufactured products on the shelves.

The Great British Exchange study found that 20 per cent of the shoppers surveyed did more than half of their shopping online. 

However, when asked about their priorities when buying food products, 82% said the least important factor was online availability. One in 5 valued provenance and the fact that the goods were locally produced above anything else when buying food products and gifts.

Special occasion shopping was one of the biggest challenges faced by consumers, according to the research, with more than half of those questioned demanding easier access to unique and British made gift products.

Shoppers also said flexible opening times, including late night opening and in-store events, would encourage them to shop on the high street more often.

Hopkins of The Great British Exchange added: “People often say bricks and mortar retail is dead but I disagree. It just needs to be done well and that means injecting some excitement and originality into a pastime that has lost its soul.”