UK to see downsizing in retail space

Retail research agency Conlumino, in a study commissioned by online marketing company Webloyalty,

is predicting retailers are downsizing their store portfolios with nearly 4000 stores expected to be reduced by 2015.

With the high operating costs associated with running a fashion store many brands are re-defining their sales strategies, which includes downsizing their retail spaces.

Neil Saunders, managing director of Conlumino, said this is not necessarily bad news for the fashion industry but that physical stores need to find their place in the multichannel environment: “Buying fashion today is a much more complex process than it was in the recent past. “Fashion stores are becoming polarised into those that act as points of contact or for functional purposes and those that add significant value, are more experiential and act as brand enhancers”.