Is improving the experience the key to saving the high street?

From a lack of parking to closed retail units and the inability of a certain high street store to take cash at a till; the Christmas purchasing experience got us thinking… Traditional shopping is just a little bit rubbish.

In a world of Next-Day delivery and international shipping it seems that the trend towards online purchasing is not abating; indeed according to the British Retail Consortium the number of shoppers heading to UK High Streets, retail parks and shopping centres has fallen by 10% in the last seven years.

This has had tangible knock-on effects for the Retail Industry, the number of shops, pubs and restaurants lying empty is rising at the fastest pace in nearly a decade (PwC).

The shopping experience needs to be redefined to place user experience at the very heart, a rejuvenated high-street with boutique independent shops and entertainment options broader than ten-pin bowling and cinemas.

Our recent project with a Chilean shopping mall chain was designed with exactly this in mind, offered to clients on presentation of a valid receipt a 40 minute, free, Escape Experience was designed to drive footfall and deliver increased social media resonance. We needed to create an Experience which was exciting, challenging but also one that could move between different sites over 2000km apart.

The success was unprecedented, the first two-month event sold out within four days, an additional two months within 36 hours. SM interaction also thrived with the event video becoming the groups’ most viewed of 2019.

During 2020 Challenger Escapes will be taking its retail unit conversion experience to Shopping Malls and High Streets throughout the UK, to find out more about our activities in this sector, get in touch!