Christmas trading has been 鈥渄isastrous鈥 for high streets in the South West due to a marked change in consumer habits, businesses report 鈥 and there could be worse to come in 2020.
Traditional shopping areas have suffered as customers do more of their spending online and for the first time show their green credentials on a large scale, according to the leaders of two of the SW鈥檚 biggest business organisations.
And the woe is set to continue with KPMG and Ipsos Retail Think Tank warning that several mid-market retailers will struggle as they lose their appeal to shoppers.
Tim Jones, chair of the South West Business Council, said information he had gathered showed high street spending was about 10% down on 2018, which itself was not a good year.
Traders had hoped for a 鈥淏oris bounce鈥 after the election but any such boost from the Prime Minister鈥檚 clear-cut win had not happened.
鈥淢ost people had already done most of their big spending, and Black Friday set the trend with discounts 鈥 that discounting continued,鈥 said Mr Jones.
Kim聽Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce said: 鈥淚t has been pretty disastrous for the high street over all. Trade is going online.
鈥淏ut it is not that it is all going online. People are not buying as much. There is this whole feeling that we have reached 鈥榗apacity stuff鈥.
鈥淧eople are buying more experiences like spa days and trips to the zoo and the like. There is this feeling that I have really noticed for the first time this year that there is a move away from material goods.鈥
Mr Conchie said that he did not have precise figures, but his view was formed after speaking to traders in Truro and Falmouth, noticing the rise of shops specialising in reuse and repair, and from seeing the move away from material goods in his own family鈥檚 Christmas.
鈥淭he wonderful architectured high street, built up in the 19th and 20th centuries, needs to find some pretty fundamental new purpose,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t is not only about the move to buying online. There is this action and awareness around climate change that we have seen come through this year. People do not want so much 鈥榮tuff鈥.鈥
Mr Jones said that his own research showed that online spending was down, too, by about 3%.
A 鈥済limmer of hope鈥 came from specialist retails such as Strawberry Fields near Launceston and Darts Farm near Topsham in East Devon, and Torrington which had 鈥渞einvented itself鈥 with shops selling locally sourced ingredients, he said.
鈥淭hey are offering something you can鈥檛 get anywhere else,鈥 he said.
Extinction Rebellion, the global environmental movement that rose to prominence in 2019, said the trend away from accumulating objects was welcome and here to stay.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have any direct evidence but this does not surprise me at all,鈥 said Zion Lights, a scientist and environmentalist who lives in Exeter. 鈥淚 think there has definitely been a shift this Christmas.
鈥淭here has been so much information in magazines and newspapers this year, discussing about giving experiences instead of presents and about cutting out plastic and wrapping paper.
鈥淪ome of us have been doing this for years but many more people are talking about it now.
鈥淭his has been a massive year for raising awareness about plastic, climate change and the biodiversity crisis. I think we will see more and more of this, year after year.
鈥淚t was a few of us but it is growing and growing. It is snowballing.鈥
South West retail and commercial stories...
Ms Lights said that the change in consumer habits did not have to be bad news for high streets.
鈥淚t is an opportunity for businesses and for high streets to look at their products and ask, 鈥榟ow sustainable are they?鈥.
鈥淚f goods are sustainable and ethically sourced, they will do well. People will go to them. We have a 鈥榸ero waste鈥 store now in Exeter.
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Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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鈥淚t is just a shift in habits. Those businesses that are complacent will die a death. People increasingly want to spend their money on goods and businesses that are sustainable. They will support them,鈥 said Ms Lights.
Springboard, a shopper monitoring organisation, said at the start of December that it expected shopper visits to high streets to have declined by 4.2% nationally in December 2019 compared with 2018.
The number of visits to shops has dropped for 12 months in succession.
