Swindon retailers have their say on future of shopping after lockdown

That is the view of key retail figures and political leaders in the county after Boris Johnson announced non-essential stores would be allowed to emerge from lockdown on April 12.

Gyms and personal care businesses are set to return for the first time in three months at the same time and the prime minister insisted there will be 'no going back' once his roadmap reaches that crucial point.

A roundtable discussion, organised by the Advertiser in partnership with NatWest, businesses across Wiltshire discussed what the retail landscape could look and the challenges companies will face in the post-Covid world.

Swindon Designer Outlet centre manager Tina Cumpstey says flexibility will be key as the behaviour of customers changes.

She said: “After the first lockdown we saw a considerable bounce, not in footfall because people were being cautious, but it was in spend.

“It was about service and experience. I represent just under 100 brands in the centre and the brands that survive will be the ones that repurpose and rethink what they’re doing.

“As a business it’s forced us to rethink, we’re a bricks and mortar business and we won’t deviate from that because we believe that experience and the uniqueness of our offer will carry us through.

“However, we’ve been trailing things through lockdown, working with our brands on doing a little bit of virtual shopping because we have to become all things to all people.

“But we recognise that customer interaction and human contact is going to be significant. There’s lots of retail studies around and there seems to be a view that customer behaviour will change."

Despite the pandemic forcing people to shop online, Ms Cumpstey is confident that number will drop once shops in Swindon and the wider county reopen – and challenged town leaders to look to Europe for inspiration when looking to drive up visitor numbers.

She added: “Covid has forced people's habits to change – online has dramatically increased in 2020 but the view is it’ll lower in 2021 as people settle back down.

“We have to repurpose and reimagine space. What does that continental high street look like?

“With market towns in this county, we have a huge advantage. Aesthetically they’re beautiful places but there’s lots and lots of community options.

“As a business we’re looking at what is that community space and supporting local business by bringing incubator businesses in and working with them to develop a presence in the high street.”

David Dudley, owner of David Dudley Jeweller in Marlborough, agrees and wants to see Wiltshire and Swindon councils do more to boost the high street.

He said: “Having got a shop in a market town, I feel Covid’s got rid of what was going to go anyway.

“There was a slide down that we were all aware of and it’s been happening. The government has been supportive, and helpful, having furlough has been a saviour for quite a lot of small companies.

“With the opening of shops coming up, I think it’s going to be very positive. I think you’ve got to look at givingamazing service, everything that online doesn’t do.

“Online is going to take 30 per cent of business. That’s why the high street has been falling away.

“As long as the shops are individual and the high streets look fresh, I believe there’s a responsibility from government, town councils, county councils, to look at their own high streets and ask how they freshen them up.

“Do we put more seating around? Are we going to make it look more continental, fresher, more trees about? Help with parking?

“We’ve got to provide a service, the individual and what you can’t buy online.

“Online will be a big competitor to a lot of people.”

Director of the Mobility and Hearing Store Willie McIvor has branches in Swindon, Malborough and Wroughton.

He believes that some of the focus post-Covid should be on the elderly population and getting them back to the shops.

Willie said: “A big majority of the population is an ageing one so making things in the town centre suitable for ageing people is essential.

“An example is Marlborough, it’s a great town but if you want to find the toilet from the high street you have to walk far to get to the car park at the back.

“Looking after the elderly shoppers is a big thing. More traditional shoppers are elderly.

“Toilets are a big thing for elderly people but even things like getting them coming into the shop.

“You have to embrace the way they shop as well. So many shops at the minute are only doing contactless. If my business was contactless then we’d be losing a lot of business.

“Some of the shops are just taking the easy route at the moment saying they’re only doing contactless or card and not cash.

“Little things like that are quite important to embrace the elderly population.”

Paul Edwards, chairman of the NatWest South West board, co-organised the meeting and he believes the retail sector could actually benefit from the enforced wait.

He added: “We’ve got a lot of frustrated consumers out there who haven’t been able to get to shops. There is a lot of people sitting on cash, we see that in our deposit balances.

“There is a real sense of pent-up demand and pent-up demand on a social experience which could be shopping.

"We could come out of this really strongly.”