Mary Portas

The UK press over the last few days has devoted much coverage to the (Prime Minister  David Cameron’s sponsored) Mary Portas report on the future of the High St.   Apologies to our international readers if this seems a somewhat parochial concern but actually it’s not.  The issues involved apply in many countries.

It’s nice to see Mary echoing – in a BBC interview - our observations in last weeks blog that shops are stuck in a 1950’s model (Portas actually says the 1960s).   She doesn’t go on to say why this is however or the causal effects of such outdated thinking.  In fact, her report is long on some (obviously important) infrastructural issues such as planning and out of town shopping areas but light on some very important areas such as technology – and most importantly for us – the quality of the shopping experience.   It might be though a bit odd that the ‘Queen of Shops’ should not explore in more detail the fact that some of the problem lies with the fact that shops are simply not good enough. 

It’s easier, in a way, for us make observations about the High St because our concern is only with a specific sector – Women’s Pleasure Goods.  However, our definition of Pleasure Goods is pretty wide and encompasses Lingerie, Beauty, Sex and Luxury which are pretty compelling reasons for the key consumer, the female one, to be on the High St.  We were saying, over a year ago, that less than 100 outlets across the world had got it (nearly) right about what women want when shopping for Pleasure Goods. The gulf between the stores that women described in the WSS research and the available reality is very wide and an indictment of the sclerotic thinking in retail.  By the same token, we would say that there was also a considerable gulf between advertising imagery and promise in many products (the ad agencies get it) and the environment they are usually purchased in (the stores don’t get it).

Exciting, ‘must visit’ stores for women could be an important ‘Anchor’ in the High St and without them a little bit of magic and attraction will be absent.