So yet another high street name is facing extinction. Being a keen photographer, I’ve spent much time and money in Jessops over the years. But, it’s telling that the last purchase I made there was about 10 years ago.
Being a man ‘of a certain age’, it was the miners strike of the 1970s that was the industrial change that made the most effect on me. On the one hand one had huge sympathy with how whole communities were wrecked and people flung onto the employment slag heap. On the other hand, these changes were essential in building a Britain ‘fit for purpose’.
The changes taking place in retailing are also profound. The difference between John Lewis and Morrisons starkly demonstrates that a retail model which doesn’t involve online sales is doomed. It also has relevance to Jessops. Ordering a camera (or any other electronic device) ‘blind’ off the internet can lead to disappointment. I do like to hold/view these things before purchase. But I do like to order via the internet for convenience and price. So, I have been one of those people who have viewed in Jessops showrooms then ordered elsewhere on the internet. John Lewis’ now has one of, if not THE, best electronics showrooms around. But they have cleverly linked it to one of the best online experiences too. Their ‘Click & Collect’ allows me to pick up at the Waitrose just down the road too. And their ‘Price Promise’ and doubled guarantee period completes the appeal.
Retail has to change. But most would not wish to see the High Street disappear. I have often written that manufacturers should establish High Street showrooms allowing the actual purchase to be made online. But John Lewis has shown how the two can be combined in a highly effective – and profitable – manner.
I ended my Predictions 2013 - Make or Break post in December, thus:
Time is fast running out. 2013 will be the ‘Year of Reckoning’ for many of these under performing companies and we see a sharp increase in company failures and ‘rescues at garage sale prices’. If you also subscribe to the maxim ‘To be reborn, first you have to die’, that is no bad thing.
If we could concentrate our efforts on the top quartile of high achievers and let the failures fail, maybe 2013 will be seen as a year when our industry and our country really moves to a higher gear.