Editor's Comment

Any proclamations of ‘the death of the high street’ should be taken with a pinch of salt – coming, as they often do, from the mouths of those in the ecommerce sector’s pay. Granted, there’ll likely be further share of spend migrating online over the coming years, but, for now at least, it appears that the rampant digital dominance brought about by the pandemic has calmed somewhat. Since as far back as May 2021, online sales have been declining (with the exception of November 2022, which was flat), says IMRG. That’s almost two years of revenues falling back down from those heady lockdown heights.

Take John Lewis, which revealed last month that its online traffic was down -5% YoY, while the number of customers using both its online and in-store channels during the year was up +4% – leading to “a channel mix rebalancing from pandemic levels of approximately 70:30 online/shops back to almost 60:40”.

As the pendulum swings back in favour of physical retail, the online giants have reacted accordingly, shedding the staff and costs associated with a more ambitious growth outlook (the term ‘rightsizing’ has become de rigeur). I have little doubt that they hedged their bets accordingly – as did those store-based retailers, big and small, who, with so many landlords backed against a wall, were audacious enough to realise that now might be the perfect time for a land grab.

I can’t predict with any certainty how the future will look, but, having witnessed the peaks and troughs wrought by Covid-19, I’m confident that the watchword will be ‘balance’. It’ll be bricks and clicks. It’ll be multichannel (or, if you prefer, omnichannel). It’ll be traditional physical commerce, ecommerce, mcommerce, and whatever comes next (Metacommerce?).

Managing this multichannel melange already takes the sort of brainpower that’s beyond the ken (and patience) of us mere mortals. The ongoing need to flex one’s business model to meet changing customer demand has highlighted the importance of choosing the best retail management software, and having the right IT infrastructure behind it. After all, the customer’s always right – so you need to be wherever they choose to shop, whenever, and able to offer them a great experience.

This month, Furniture News is returning to the (at once fascinating and impenetrable) topic of retail technology, to find out how the software and platforms available to the furniture sector have changed over the years since they were first implemented, and how straightforward it might be to switch to a new one (see p36). Is your system feeling a little long in the tooth? Chances are, if you can see it, so can your customers.

Like a significant refurb or expansion to a new territory, an IT upgrade shouldn’t be taken lightly. Once you’re committed, you’re in it for the long haul, so it pays to do the research – but that shouldn’t put anyone off seeing what newer systems can offer. In an increasingly complex selling environment, both online and off, having the capability to keep all the plates spinning might be the most important investment you can make.

Elsewhere in this month’s issue, AIS’ beds and cabinet selector Rebecca Maloy gives us the lowdown on the upcoming INDX Beds & Bedroom show (p26), Bensons’ chairman Ian Shepherd shares his own take on how retailers can rise to the multichannel challenge (p58), and we ‘get personal’ with Deirdre Mc Gettrick, the founder of ufurnish.com (p14).

There’s also the launch of this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards (p10) – vote for your favourite supply partners by visiting www.bit.ly/fn-readers-choice-awards-2023 when you get a chance!