There’s a lot going on in retail stores

I was privileged to mingle with UK retail’s movers and shakers at the Retail Week x The Grocer LIVE event, in London, on 3 March.

All the key industry themes were covered in detail, but one subject that stood out for me during the course of the day – and which was refreshing in these times of ever-evolving digital dialogue – was how the physical store remains the bedrock of retailers’ success.

Sarah Boyd, UK managing director at beauty brand Sephora, acknowledged it’s expensive and hard work to operate stores in the UK – but told delegates her company’s decision to start opening up shops in the country in 2023 has been vindicated.

The company is aiming to have circa 20 stores in the UK by the end of 2026, but Boyd underlined how they need to offer something compelling: retailers, especially those of non-essential products, can’t just open their doors and expect the customers to flock in.

“Coming out of Covid, people expected and wanted a physical experience – and with the data we have available, we should be able to create this experience which is absolutely critical.”

She added “boring retail is in the death throes” but that there are many examples of retailers doing exciting things with their bricks and mortar.

Three of those retailers took to the stage for a session on the power of the store: Holland and Barrett, Footasylum, and Dobbies Garden Centres.

“The store estate has to be unique,” said Harj Josson, retail director at Holland & Barrett, which has been modernising its estate at a “rapid rate” in recent years. “It’s important it looks great,” he commented, adding this must be backed up with staff who can offer expert advice and service in a wellness sector that continues to grow significantly.

Footasylum head of retail, Shannon Osman, spoke about the need for offering customers plenty of reasons to enter a store in an increasingly digital age. She spoke about her company’s huge social media following, and the need to translate that into the store space by keeping brand continuity across all channels.

Reflecting on the Footasylum London Oxford Street site, which collaborates with Nike to house a ‘Jordan store’ downstairs, she said: “[With screens and places to create content there] we’re inviting consumers to go to a destination we know they’ll love.

“There’s a need to make customers understand that when they come to a Footasylum, they’re going to get that experience.”

Dobbies CEO David Robinson said the “experiential” aspect of retail – including in-store events – is the “magic sauce” and giving customers many things to do in a shop is crucial for a retailer like his to ensure people spend more time in these spaces.

“The combination of hospitality, experiential and retail is a really potent mix,” he remarked, saying retailers should be striving for their stores to become destinations.

Screwfix’s digital director Sue Harries shared some stats that highlighted the importance of intrinsically combining stores with digital platforms. She said the Kingfisher-owned company, which opened its 1,000^th store at the start of 2026, has opened a quite remarkable one store a week for 15 years, on average.

While 30% of Screwfix sales were conducted online pre-pandemic, that figure now stands at circa 60%, she said, following a period when 100% of sales went digital during the Covid crisis. However, it’s an omnichannel story – because, as Harries noted, 25% of sales are transacted through the app but 95% of those are collected in stores. 

Harries, who began her Screwfix career nearly 20 years ago before the retailer even had stores, called shops a huge “asset”. She explained how Screwfix hasn’t paid for marketing its app – store colleagues are getting behind it and telling customers how and why to use it.

“They’ve been a massive driving force for us,” she explained.

Later on in the day, sustainability bosses at Ikea and Decathlon took to the stage to discuss the importance of offering circular economy services in retail. Both retailers offer buy-back schemes, where customers can bring back products they no longer need for which they then receive credit to buy new items.

When I caught up with Ikea’s Greg Lucas and Decathlon’s Chris Allen after their session, they told me how Decathlon opening inside Ikea Croydon this spring – see the full story on my Green Retail World title – presents a “significant opportunity” to raise awareness of and engagement with the circular economy.

With these two large retailers coming together under one roof, there will be so many chances to increase consumer access to circular economy – to educate them on and offer services around repair and resale and why this is environmentally important.

So, there you have it. The retail store: it’s a place for creating compelling customer experiences, offering convenient collection points for online orders, showcasing staff expertise, and underlining purposeful brand messages that have a wider societal impact.

With that in mind, have you got the right tech infrastructure in place to facilitate all this? Have you got the technology that links your online proposition to the point of sale (POS) in store? Are you truly freeing up your staff to be the “driving force” behind your brand?

I wrote a blog last year highlighting five new stores which show how the physical shop has morphed into something much more than a place to sell and buy things.

Manhattan Associates, with its suite of omnichannel commerce products supporting order management, POS, and customer experience, is well positioned to support retailers as this evolution to the modern, all-singing, all-dancing store continues.

Why not take a look at what Manhattan Associates has to offer?.