Individuality pays the price for high street cloning

The UK has seen a dramatic change in its shopping scene over the past couple of decades, as the number of independent retailers on our streets has dwindled during ongoing battles with the big name chains for their positions within the country’s bustling high streets.

As we lose the individuality of our historic market towns and village high streets, due to the ever present and expanding force of big brand stores and supermarkets offering the same products, do we run the risk of losing our own sense of identity and individuality? Or is the demise of the independent retailer an accepted casualty in the battle for the consumers’ wallets?

As you walk into any popular big brand store, it is easy to spot where individuality ends and standardisation begins. Suppliers such as Argos and Currys are just two such examples of standardisation where both chains will stock very similar, if not exactly the same products. Although it may seem that the volume of products available offers you a choice, the fact that the choice may be the same from each store around the country or even between supposedly competitive brands removes the opportunity to create any personality to general consumer homes.

Of course, standardisation and similar products in volume can be beneficial for the consumer. As big brand companies provide similar sorts of products and services, this will increase the competition between the companies, which will in turn lead to a drop in prices as they attempt to stake their claim as market leaders and entice customers in-store to view their products on equally as standardised shop fittings.

It is not just these suppliers that offer similar ranges of products, as home owners looking to add a unique touch to their dwellings may be embarrassed to find that their next door neighbour is behind them in the shopping queue at Ikea purchasing the same bland flat pack furniture set as them.

The independent stores cannot compete with the buying power of the larger companies so can’t demand the same prices without cutting their margins dramatically. So, in this extent with commoditised goods, where price is king, are we that bothered that we may lose these independents from the high street? But for the independent stores stocking rare or unique items that help shoppers create their sense of identity, both for themselves and their homes, their departure is potentially greater and something we may not want to see.

To counter this loss in choice — certainly for furniture, at least — consumers are turning to the internet in search of individuality. Once the place of small consumer goods such as CDs and DVDs, shoppers are happy to buy white and brown goods as well as furniture online.

For small businesses, they can create a shop front online at a much lower cost than the physical alternative. And when it comes to drawing customers to their store, advertising online, such as the search engine Google as well as employing other promotional tactics, come with much lower costs than the traditional options.

For consumers though, the task of trying to find the right product can be time consuming and not every website is the same, which can make it hard to find what you are looking for. To help shoppers, sites such as MyDeco are springing up, and offer a service of pulling together large and small suppliers of products in one easy to navigate website.

For independent retailers, their sphere of influence may have been limited to a small radius around their physical location. But, with the internet not only can they offer their products on a national basis but also an international one, opening their doors to millions of prospective customers around the world.

These are just some examples where the internet is offering a level playing field for the independent retailer, where the need for a high street store is no longer necessary. And for the astute, PC-competent consumer, choice is returning and the desire for individuality can be met.

As seen in Darwin’s theory of natural selection, we can see that the independents aren’t disappearing all together; they have just evolved to survive in a world where competition and the battle for survival are necessary.

Paul McIndoe writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.