New retail tech could boost UK high street by 9 billion pounds, says report

New technology is projected to drive footfall back into stores and boost the UK high street by 9 billion pounds, according to a new report.

The report, by retail technology innovators NearSt and research and innovation consultancy, The Future Laboratory, examined how Real-Time Local Inventory (RTLI), an emerging type of data that shows where products are stocked in high street shops in real-time, can make shopping locally more convenient than online.

Anecdotal evidence from NearSt's current network of shops indicated that RTLI could drive up to 9 billion pounds of sales back into the UK's 200,000 high street stores, the equivalent of an average Briton making seven additional high street purchases a year. In London specifically, the technology is projected to provide a 534 million pound boost to the city’s high streets. That number was predicted through the study’s projection that RLTI could generate at least five extra customers per day in-store, with a 25 average spend for each customer over 350 average retail opening days in a year across 12,200 qualifying shops.

RTLI could boost London’s high streets by 534 million pounds

The report explored trends including shoppability across social channels, increasing environmental awareness, and how the emergence of more local services will all combine with RTLI to create a new dynamism for the high street. The results showed that RTLI would enable local stores to offer greater flexibility, personalisation and connection with consumers.

“Today it’s very much a case of going back to the future for retail. Our parents would shop locally for a lack of other options, but benefited from the convenience, service, and community of buying nearby,” said co-founder of NearSt, Nick Brackenbury, in a statement.

He added: “We’re close to a future where the best elements from that past will be unlocked once again, where your phone will know that the shop down the road has what you want, rather than an online shop shipping products from hundreds of miles away.”

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