There has long been a lot of talk about the state of the high street, and in recent years there have been plenty of reasons for traditional shops to sell up and look elsewhere. We are frequently seeing businesses appearing online rather than in a brick-and-mortar setting, and cost is a major factor. The difference in business expenses differs across industries and here are a few examples from across the spectrum.
Casinos
To start off with an interesting case, casinos have one of the most prolific digital versions out there. The online casino side of the business is now worth billions and has huge public awareness. Whether it’s bingo, online slots, or more unique games like the Spin Till You Win at Betfair, people both in Britain and around the world are picking them up with a lot of renewed interest.
With that said, brick-and-mortar casinos are still thriving for the most part. Despite a few small dips, Britain’s traditional casinos are seeing large numbers of patrons through the door each year. In this case, it may come down to offering a different experience. For every player who likes the convenience of playing games virtually, there is another who loves the in-person vibe and will seek out the atmosphere instead.
Restaurants
Unlike casinos, restaurants don’t really have that clean cut between the original location and the online service. After all, even with online orders through food delivery apps like Just Eat , the food still has to be made somewhere. In many cases, the only way the restaurants save money at all is if the main establishment is takeaway only as well.
Some businesses have managed to find an interesting alternative in the form of ghost kitchens. These are essentially online-only restaurants that operate out of a shared preparation space, in the same way other businesses may use office sharing. One kitchen can host multiple separate ‘restaurants’, in turn meaning that the operating costs of each one are much lower.
Clothing Retailers
At the far end of the scale of balance between online and offline, clothing shops feel like the brick-and-mortar side has dropped behind by a fair margin. Out of all the types of shops on the high street, clothing shops seem to be disappearing the fastest. . Famous names like Debenhams and Topshop have gone online-only in recent years and many smaller ones have followed them.
The main idea behind it is cutting out the huge costs linked to the massive showroom spaces each had to maintain. Even in the rare cases where the building was bought and not leased or rented, upkeep costs would be huge. Going completely online allows retailers to only use warehouse storage space, and even this can be shared between multiple businesses to push costs down further.
The short version of this is that there’s no set blueprint that applies to all business types, and some will end up handling the digital age in very different ways. One thing is sure though: we haven’t seen the end of the process yet!
