One of the dominant trends that we’ve seen in online activity over Christmas is that popular interest in shopping is higher on Christmas Day than during many of the traditional shopping days preceding it.
With more and more traditions being set aside and the increase in cheap netbooks and easy internet access this trend seems likely to continue well into the next decade. How this will effect retail shops in the high street is unknown but there might be a revival coming with a reverse trend that is beginning to appear in the UK
Pop-up shops are springing up all over as previously exclusive on-line brands bid to liven up the high street and fill empty stores in the run-up to Christmas.
Ebay is opening a pop-up store in New York. Nick Gray, managing director at creative retail marketing agency Live & Breathe, says this not only “gives eBay a physical presence” for the first time, but is a “great opportunity to draw attention to a brand that does not normally appear on the high street”.
Other brands are capitalising on the effects of the recession on the retail market to test the waters for future expansion. HMV is taking empty space in ten locations across the UK. Those stores deemed successful may remain open, according to HMV property director Mark Bowles. He believes the pop-up shops “could well become a feature of our trading in future” especially in the run-up to Christmas where about 40% of the annual consumer demand is generated. Book publisher Phaidon is also taking advantage of vacant property by opening two stores in London for the festive period.
