EAP Portfolio Assessment Sample

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Introduction

In the current times, due to the digital environment the people are likely to make the online shopping rather than going physically on stores. For students seeking help writing assignments on e-commerce impact, this high street analysis provides key examples. The digital age fundamentally changes the attitude and behaviours of the customers towards the process of selling and it is still reshaping the high streets. Additionally, online shopping negatively impacts the profitability and growth of high street shops. Due to the convenience and availability of the more options of the products, the people are likely to make online shopping rather than going on street shops from which its vendors are facing the issues of low sales, profitability and growth. Further, free shipping, lower prices, price comparison, discounts, fast shipping and find new brands are the main factors due to which customers prefer to purchase products online instead of high street. Thus, current essay will shed light on the extent to which online shopping impacted the growth of high street shops.

EAP Portfolio Assessment Sample

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Jacqueline Gough 5 Years | PhD

Main Body

Online shopping affects the high street businesses in many ways. Due to the increased use of internet, the future of high street gets desolate and it is anticipated that this sector will be end in the future. The advancement in technologies is going to kill off the shops of high streets due to the popularity of online shopping. Generally, e-commerce platforms are providing admittance of broader market to the local businesses as well as also allow them to sell the products to the people who do not visit physical store (Nanda, Xu and Zhang, 2021). The online shopping make easier for the customers to purchase from the competitors and compare the prices which taking the business away from high streets. If the customers are buying the products through online mode then it will be less likely to visit local store which leads negative influence on the sales and foot traffic. In addition to this, the pandemic has hastened this shift because at that time the people were not able to go outside. During lockdown, which imposed by the government, customers start making online purchase through various digital platforms. It can be said that, in the future four out of ten high street shops will be closed (Sayyida et al, 2021). Only those high street shops will remain in the market which makes significant investment in the technologies to offer facility of online shopping to the customers. For example, Next Plc is one of leading Fashion Company of UK and it emphasises on providing the facility of online shopping to the customers for gaining the competitive edge in the market for the long duration. In 2024, the online sales of Next Plc was 3.16 British Pounds which was higher than retail sales i.e. 1.87 British pounds (Statista Research Department, 2024). Providing this facility to the customers is beneficial for the companies because it helps in enhancing the experience and satisfaction of the customers from which they are like to make more purchase.

The extensive online shopping industry is considered as an integral part of the UK’s population in their daily routines. Due to the advancement in technologies, the e-commerce market of all the countries is drastically increased which places significant adverse impact on the growth and development of high street shops (Al-Adwan et al, 2022). In 2021, more than 10,000 chain store shops were closed down due to the online shopping of people. For example, PwC, a Fashion Company of the UK, closed many shops in the last year due to changing the behaviour of customers towards online shopping. Additionally, the customers are likely to make online shopping instead of physical stores because it provides the discounts and various offers on festivals and other occasions (Tolstoy, Nordman and Vu, 2022). Due to the festive discounts and flash sales, majority of the people are likely to make purchase online which negatively impacts on the productivity, sales and profitability of the high street shops. From the online shopping, the people also have the option of membership from which they get extra benefit in comparison to the high streets. E-commerce companies are providing the facility of membership to the people automatically if they are making purchase on regular basis. On the other hand, the high street vendors are not providing the extra benefits to the people. Thus, financial benefits are the main reason due to which customers prefer to purchase products online rather than high street (Al-Abbadi et al, 2022). Apart from this, in the today’s environment the people are likely to make online shopping over high streets to save the travelling and shopping time. Generally, online shopping saves the time of the people because they don’t need to go to the store and purchase something. Due to time saving aspect, the people are not likely to buy the products from high street shops which negatively influence its customer base and overall profitability.

Online shopping also impacts the jobs of people in the high street. The online shopping directly impacts the profitability of the organizations from which they are unable to pay salaries to the employees which leads to job losses. For example, well-known brands such as The Body Shop, Tea Baker, New Look etc., are also impacting from the shifting the habits of consumers. Online shopping has majorly adversely influence operation of high streets. More than one in every four retail companies of clothing, textile and footwear are achieving sales targets from digital channels (Ertemel et al, 2021). This has caused challenges for the high street retailers which have resulted in job losses and closure. Due to the rise in online shopping, the vendors of high streets are facing challenges in attracting more customers, increasing sales & profit margins as well as growing and developing the business operatio (Mahliza, Nugroho and Putra, 2021). Due to the advancement of technologies, this trend is continuously increasing and creates the problems for the present and future high street vendors. Over the last year, more than 89% of the UK’s people prefer to make online shopping rather than going physical stores (Fresen, 2024). In UK, people purchase clothes online as compare to other products which negatively impacts on the profitability and sales of fashion companies such as Marks and Spencer (M&S), Next plc, ASOS etc. Apart from this, the young people are likely to make online shopping because they are more active and spending most of time on digital platforms. It has been identified that, in the UK more than 91% of people who age of 25 to 34 are purchasing products online (Fresen,2024). Referring overall evaluation it can be stated that online shopping has placed adverse impact on the growth, sales and profitability of high street shops within UK.

Conclusion

By summing up this essay, it has been articulated that online shopping has massive negative impact on the high street shops. In digital environment, the customers are likely to do online shopping due to convenience, various options of products, free shipping, discounts, membership offers etc., rather than visiting physical stores or high street shops. This in turn places direct impact on the sales, profitability and production of physical stores. Apart from this, for the growth and development in future, high street shops will need to make investment for adopting emerging technologies to provide online shopping facility to the customers which increase their online sales. In addition, to increase sales and profitability as compare to e-commerce companies, high street will need to provide mobile coupon or promo code. It will be considered as great way for the high streets to attract potential customers and increase sales.

References

Books and Journals

• Al-Abbadi, L., Bader, D., Mohammad, A., Al-Quran, A., Aldaihani, F., Al-Hawary, S. and Alathamneh, F., 2022. The effect of online consumer reviews on purchasing intention through product mental image. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 6(4), pp.1519-1530.
• Al-Adwan, A.S., Alrousan, M.K., Yaseen, H., Alkufahy, A.M. and Alsoud, M., 2022. Boosting online purchase intention in high-uncertainty-avoidance societies: A signaling theory approach. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3), p.136.
• Ertemel, A.V., Civelek, M.E., Eroğlu Pektaş, G.Ö. and Çemberci, M., 2021. The role of customer experience in the effect of online flow state on customer loyalty. PloS one, 16(7), p.e0254685.
• Mahliza, F., Nugroho, L. and Putra, Y.M., 2021, February. The effect of e-wom, brand trust, and brand ambassador on purchase decisions at tokopedia online shopping site. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 1071, No. 1, p. 012017). IOP Publishing.
• Nanda, A., Xu, Y. and Zhang, F., 2021. How would the COVID-19 pandemic reshape retail real estate and high streets through acceleration of E-commerce and digitalization?. Journal of Urban Management, 10(2), pp.110-124.
• Sayyida, S., Hartini, S., Gunawan, S. and Husin, S.N., 2021. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail consumer behavior. Aptisi Transactions on Management, 5(1), pp.79-88.
• Tolstoy, D., Nordman, E.R. and Vu, U., 2022. The indirect effect of online marketing capabilities on the international performance of e-commerce SMEs. International Business Review, 31(3), p.101946.

Online

• Fresen, N, 2024. Online-shopping-killing-the-high-street. Online. Available through: <https://www.theretailbulletin.com/general-merchandise/is-online-shopping-killing-the-high-street-20-05-2024/ . 
• Statista Research Department, 2024. Retail and online sales of Next plc. Online. Available through: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/980296/retail-and-online-sales-next-plc/ >