According to the latest findings of the latest Progressive Gifts & Home Retail Barometer – an independent gift retail micro survey that reflects how retailers fared in the previous year – it seems that many independent gift retailers bucked the trend in 2018, holding their own in the face of challenges and Brexit uncertainty.
In a year when HMV went into administration for the second time, House of Fraser’s and Debenhams’ future looked shaky, M&S announced the closure of 100 stores by 2022 and Brexit continued to dominate the headlines, the good news is that compared to 2017, almost three quarters of respondents (73%) said that their businesses did better or stayed the same (compared to 58% in 2017).
Interestingly, 80% of independent gift retailers surveyed reported that Christmas 2018 was, thankfully, a really good one. More good news in 2018 was that some 85% of customers paid by cash/debit card (up from 70% in 2017).
Engaging with customers through social media increased. Almost all respondents confirmed that they used Facebook, with two thirds engaging with Instagram and half using Twitter, an increase on the previous year.
Also on the ‘up’ was sourcing sustainable environmentally friendly products, with 86% of respondents confirming that this was very important to them. Other product categories that stood tall in 2018, (compared to the previous year), were craft products (up 27%); children’s clothing/accessories (up 19%); gift stationery/journals (up 18%), toys and games (up 13%), tableware and kitchen gifts (up 12%) and fashion accessories (up 11%).
Looking ahead to this year, respondents said that they were feeling confident. Some 78% of those surveyed said that they felt that their business would see marginal or significant growth or remain about the same.
The full findings of the PG&H Retail Barometer will appear in the March/April issue of Progressive Gifts & Home magazine.
Top: Christmas 2018 was a winner for independent gift retailers, as reflected by the respondents who took part in the 13th Progressive Gifts & Home Retail Barometer.
