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Retail Outlook 2026: Why 71% of Independent Retailers Are Growing - And How to Join Them · The Resilient Retail Game Plan - retail insights, retail trends and best practices

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  How is the UK high street doing, and what do people really think
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  about independent retailers?
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  Today we're delving into the Voices of Retail report with Elyse McAvoy, one
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  of the authors of the report from Faire.
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  Today I'm joined by Elyse McAvoy from Faire, and we're getting into a report
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  I think every independent retailer in the UK should have on their desk.
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  It's the result of the collaboration between Faire, the wholesale
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  marketplace, and Spring and Autumn Fair, the trade show.
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  And what sets it apart is that it merges the retailer perspective and
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  the consumer perspective together in the same report for the first time.
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  650 retailers and over 2,000 consumers- The real story of Britain's high streets,
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  not the one you see in the headlines.
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  Here's Elyse on how it came together.
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  So, Faire's had this long-standing partnership with Spring and Autumn Fair.
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  It's been years now, and I think entering our third year, we were wondering what
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  could we do to deepen this partnership?
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  There's so much-- We kind of reach more retailers than any trade
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  association in the UK, so how can we take that scale and this joint
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  mission we have around strengthening UK retail and bring something to
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  our community that's really useful?
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  So we got in a room, we did some brainstorming and we had this idea
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  about shining a light on what's really happening on Britain's high streets.
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  So not the narratives you hear in the, in the news all the time, but, like,
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  what is the true story and the sentiment?
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  Uh, and what we did was we merged the consumer and the
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  retailer perspective together.
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  So we surveyed six hundred and fifty retailers in the UK and
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  then over two thousand consumers.
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  And this is the first time a report of this kind has actually merged
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  those two narratives together and looked at both sides of the coin.
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  And yeah, we just had this idea of like, let's bring something to the
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  community that's really useful.
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  And the motivation behind it was something I think will resonate with
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  anyone running a small retail business.
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  I think what really drove us was knowing that independent retailers don't really
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  have access to that kind of consumer research or that industry insight.
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  It's kind of reserved for big brands and big research budgets, so we could
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  really give them something helpful.
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  And we wanted to create something that not only is like useful, but also inspires
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  them to continue doing what they love.
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  And that commitment to genuine rigor is what makes this report different.
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  The consumer survey covered over 2,000 people drawn from right across
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  the UK, different regions, different demographics, different spending levels.
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  Not just Londoners, and not just the shoppers you might expect to be
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  already supporting independent retail.
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  A real representative cross-section of the British high street.
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  So when Elyse walked me through what they'd actually found,
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  I was really curious to see what the report had uncovered.
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  So many things, actually.
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  I think when I saw the data for the first time, I was-- I left the room smiling.
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  I was like: I think there's so much that's positive here that independent
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  retailers will be thrilled to see.
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  I think one finding that stopped me in my tracks was our AI finding.
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  So the stat was nine in 10 consumers say AI has made them more likely to see
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  products in real life and trust a local retailer over an AI recommendation.
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  I think there's this negative sentiment that AI is actually, like,
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  prohibiting independent retail, but it's actually the opposite.
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  So it's a 10-to-one ratio in favor of the human over AI.
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  I hope that's something that independent retailers will sink their teeth into.
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  I think there was another stat around the branding gap that
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  was really exciting as well.
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  And we expected brand storytelling to matter.
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  I think we implicitly know that brand matters and marketing matters.
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  But I think the actual gap was so large, so it's a 19% percentage point difference
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  between growing and declining retailers who are investing in brand storytelling.
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  And I think the kicker is that only 30% are actually doing it.
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  That statistic that says that 71% of independent retailers are growing
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  or stable is well worth remembering the next time that someone tells
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  you the high street is dying.
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  But the finding that really stopped me and I wanted to push Elyse further on
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  was the AI one, because everything you hear right now positions AI as a threat
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  to small independent businesses, and this data is saying something quite different.
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  I think there's this two sides of the coin thing here.
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  So I think, AI is, I think, helping people reveal that there's products
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  out there, but I think when it comes to recommendations, like, I think discovery
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  you can use AI, but when it comes for, like, product recommendations and unique
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  products, consumers want to get the opinion of a shopkeeper 'cause they
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  have that-- they're values-driven, and they have all these unique products.
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  It's not just the same old, same old or you're kind of
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  dictating what you're getting.
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  So I think when it comes to, like, true discovery, there's a huge place
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  for retailers to kind of own that.
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  And the report had something else to say about what growing retailers have
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  in common, something that surprised me with how simple it actually is.
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  It was interesting to see how many successful retailers were using
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  collaboration or stating that collaboration helped, but then only a
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  very small percentage of retailers were actually collaborating on a regular basis.
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  Why do you think that gap exists?
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  I think retailers are busy, and I think that there's so much that they're doing.
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  They're wearing so many hats.
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  They're marketers.
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  They're also managing their own accounting.
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  Like, there's so much that they're doing to survive, and
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  they have very small teams often.
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  We saw, like, a, there's one to three teams or one to three people
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  on a team is kind of the norm for a lot of these retailers.
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  So I think that getting outside the day-to-day and trying something new that
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  they're not positive will have a return on investment, I think is tricky I also
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  think there's kind of like a lack of inspiration of like, what do I try that
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  actually, you know, is outside the box and can drive those, those objectives.
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  And I think this is something that the report actually helps reveal.
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  It's what can you be doing that's really simple, and it's a phone call away.
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  It's not you need to launch massive brand campaigns with other retailers.
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  It could be a joint social post.
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  It's very easy things that can build, you can build on as you start to see
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  that there is a payback or there is a branding win that comes from that.
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  in the report that we go into all this, but I, I do think there's the things
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  you can do, but then there's also what are-- And the re- retailers are saying
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  like, "These are the things we're trying, but we're also seeing an increase in
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  footfall. We're seeing that we're driving revenue increases from these things."
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  So it's not just a branding play, but it's also driving lower funnel.
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  You know, it, it's driving business impact.
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  And what I love about that is it's not theoretical.
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  You can see it playing out on any high street where retailers are
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  building a community, not just a shop.
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  In fact, some of the most vivid examples of this came up right at
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  this point in our conversation.
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  I live right off Upper Street in Islington, and I've seen a ton of
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  the retailers do like late-night listening sessions where they
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  have live music or they have wine tastings and stuff like that.
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  And I think just like little events like that, you know, it's collaboration
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  but also community building.
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  I feel like that- Is how we build loyalty long term.
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  It's like those events that are more than just a shopping experience.
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  It kind of, you know, makes you feel something for that business.
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  to ask you a little bit about the percentage of retailers that got less
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  than 10% of their sales from online, because I know when I've been talking
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  to retailers, that's a stat that some people have found quite surprising.
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  What were your thoughts when you saw the fact that the majority of retailers
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  were getting the vast majority of their sales from their bricks and mortar store?
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  I wasn't that surprised by that.
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  I think that you inherently know, like, there's benefit from doing both.
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  But from the retailers I talk to, like, there's a lot of, you know, it-- People
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  are busy, and I think they are really dedicated to the store experience, and,
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  like, that's what differentiates them.
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  the report actually confirmed my hypothesis on this, that there's retailers
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  who are doing both and doing it well, and that does drive business impact, and
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  there's ones who are really doubling down on what makes them special and unique,
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  which is the in-person experience.
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  So kind of making a choice not to go that route.
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  I think we've seen that, you know, you can grow if you do both, but in a
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  world where you can't do everything, it makes sense to, to focus.
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  And maybe the AI finding kind of layers on top of that, that if people want
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  the in-store experience, they wanna get to know you, and the shopkeeper
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  recommendations are a differentiator, you know, you can focus on that
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  instead of spreading yourself too thin.
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  So from the retailer side, the picture is already a lot more
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  resilient than most headlines suggest.
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  But the section of this report that I think should give every independent
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  retailer the most confidence is what consumers themselves are actually
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  saying, because it is not just vague goodwill towards the high street.
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  There is real quantified spending intent behind it.
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  I think this was the most exciting thing to see.
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  I, I, everything was exciting.
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  I, I love-- The whole report was, you know, making me so
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  proud of what I do every day.
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  But I think the consumer piece was what really should give retailers ammo.
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  was 96% of consumers want to see more independents, and 95% would
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  spend more if, you know, the independents were there on the high
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  street and offering what they want.
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  And then there's also purchasing power behind that.
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  It was 145 pounds a month is what consumers are willing to
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  spend with independents alone.
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  So all of this is so exciting, and it's not just, you know, the demand
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  is there, but, like, there's literal, like, purchase power wallet will be
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  spent on these, on independent retail i- as long as the, the offering is there.
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  So I think, like, that was so exciting.
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  I also think that the, the local business versus, like, the large corporate
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  piece was really interesting too.
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  So the, the data point was 85% actively prefer spending with
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  local businesses over corporations.
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  So
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  I hope independent retailers are seeing that there's this huge
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  part for them to play and people do wanna be values-driven if they can.
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  Like, I think there's obvious benefits to shopping on Amazon and shopping with
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  these, you know, big box chains that offer convenience and the pricing is right.
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  But there's a part for local retailers to play too, and it's not
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  just, you know, competing on price.
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  All the things we've been talking about, it's the community building,
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  it's the recommendations and the unique products, and all the stuff
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  that we know and love I think does give you-- gives retailers kind of a,
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  a good green space to play in.
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  145 pounds a month that consumers are ready and willing
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  to spend with independents.
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  85% actively preferring local over corporate.
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  The appetite is there The question is, how do you make sure that it flows to you?
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  And that is exactly what I asked Elyse next.
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  Given everything she had seen across all of that data, what would she actually tell
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  an independent retailer to do right now?
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  Number one thing I want to call out is investing in your
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  story before you cut prices.
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  This is not a race to the bottom.
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  I think that's so important to keep in mind.
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  Again, as we saw, investing in brand building is what the big, the growing
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  retailers are doing, and- If you're competing on price and just lowering
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  prices, that's the biggest correlation with the declining retailers.
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  Yeah, I think it's investing in your story and your marketing.
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  So if there's a story around who you are as a retailer, why you do what
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  you're doing, why you stock the products you stock and having sort of a, a
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  brand or a recognizable place in your community, that pays dividends long term.
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  So, and that also, it's kind of like the difference in getting somebody into
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  your store once versus building loyalty.
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  And I think that I have the stores on Upper Street in Islington that I
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  go to because I know them, and they do these events that I love seeing.
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  So I think like, and I, and I know the story of why they got started.
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  So I think like investing in that long term, you know, brand building is what
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  builds a customer base and also makes you wanna refer those stores to other people.
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  it can mean a lot of things, but I think it's, it's marketing and storytelling.
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  Yeah, and that's a really clear distinction that you've seen that the
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  businesses that are growing invest in storytelling, brand building, and the
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  ones that aren't growing are the ones more likely to have reduced their prices.
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  Is that fair to say?
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  Yes, exactly.
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  Because I think that's like not where independent retail needs to compete.
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  And it's not to say like everything needs to be more expensive, but I think,
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  you know, just trying to compete on price is not why you, you know, are
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  going into a store in the first place.
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  And I think there's the big box chains that do that better.
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  And I think like knowing, sticking to your guns around why you exist and the products
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  that you're selling feel different than what those other stores offer,
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  I think is what you should focus on.
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  I completely agree
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  I think collaboration, I think that this is something that you
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  and I both agree is, is huge.
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  So I would say start one collaboration this month.
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  I think that's like an easy thing to do.
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  Give it a try.
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  Find a, a retailer in your community that you know and admire.
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  And it doesn't even have to be a formal partnership.
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  It can just be a conversation with a, a neighbor down the street, and you
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  could agree to recommend each other to customers, or you could plan one
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  joint networking event that month.
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  Could be as simple as that.
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  Maybe it becomes, it snowballs and becomes something bigger
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  but just get the ball rolling.
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  And then I'd say the last is leaning into being human.
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  I think in a world of AI, you can't avoid it.
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  I think that this is where independent retail really has a chance to, to own
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  and kind of become differentiated.
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  Um, the data point I'll leave you with is 81% of consumers trust
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  independent retail over an algorithm.
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  So there's a huge role to play, and I think like your marketing, your social
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  presence, your in-store experience reflect that I think it'll kind of give
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  people a reason to pursue your business and love your business and come back.
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  as the world gets more robotic, then people really want to lean into the human.
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  Exactly.
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  Exactly what we're saying.
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  Well, thank you so much for joining me today, and thank you so much for
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  sharing all of this incredible insight.
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  The report is completely free.
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  You can download it from the Spring Fair website, and I will put a
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  direct link in the show notes.
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  If you want to explore Fair as a wholesale market, that link is there too.
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  Three things I want you to take away from this conversation.
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  Invest in your story before you touch your prices.
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  That is what separates businesses that are growing from the ones that are not.
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  Start one collaboration this month.
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  It can be as simple as a conversation with the shop next door.
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  And lean into being human because 81% of consumers already
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  trust you over an algorithm.
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  That is worth remembering.
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  Thank you so much for listening.
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  Don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.
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  And if you have a moment, you can rate and review it.
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  You can rate it inside the Spotify app, and you can leave
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  a review inside Apple Podcasts.
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  So why not take a moment and do that, and I'll see you next week.