Another year is upon us and another depressing media report about falling High Street retail profits, fills our screens and dominates headlines. It's no secret that the future of the UK High Street is at risk and Online Shopping is widely accepted to be the biggest threat of all. In 2017, an industry report* estimated that "between 2020 and 2030 half of the UK’s existing shop premises will have disappeared. 100,000 stores will close, leaving just 120,000 shops on our high street. And that’s because by 2030 e-commerce will account for around 40% of all UK retail sales".

Trend Editions is an Online UK retailer with a social conscience and we believe that far from sitting back and watching the High Street's demise, the UK Government needs to get creative and proactive and support ways in which Online retail and traditional High Street retail can both co-exist and support each other's growth.

New technologies such as Augmented Reality are a great example of how this can be achieved and it's already in use for the furniture industry; widely held to be the next retail sector that will make a stampede Online.  Using the regular camera view of your Smartphone or tablet, customers can literally 'see' items of furniture in their own homes, change the colours of fabric, change the wood etc and make an informed decision before spending any money. 

It is the High Street that should be driving the use of this technology. Imagine being given access to virtual furniture at a store and then going home with the ability to view it to scale, in your own living room before deciding to buy. This is just one example of how technology can be used to strengthen High Street retail.  We believe the Government, through Kelly Tolhurst, the relevant minister, should take the initiative and proactively harness not just the power of technology, but also the social and moral obligation to save our High Street.

Sign our petition today to help make this a reality.

 * ParcelHero Industry Report: 2030: The Death of the High Street