How we shop has changed significantly in the last 50 years, some of the biggest changes however have happened in the last 10-15 with the advent of internet shopping. This has had a knock on effect to how our high streets now look. Online shopping has been attributed to the decline of the high street although there are many other reasons why some retailers who were once big, have not weathered the storm.
Recently in the last 10 years we have mourned the loss of Republic, Kookai and Morgan who at one time were stalwarts of the high street, however in the run up to the crash in 2009 an number of these stores struggled and went before or soon after the recession hit. Where these brands have lost, there are a number who have picked up the pieces, grown stronger and taken over the market share.
So who are the big players taking up our high streets? Interestingly My Voucher Codes have produced an infographic which shows who owns some of the most popular fashion shops, you can see it here. Some people might not be aware, that some of their favourite shops are connected through the holding companies. In the UK Topshop one of the biggest fashion brands is under the Arcadia group, along with Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Evans and Outfit. In total Arcadia has a net income of £205m.
However when it comes to the biggest net income, that goes to H&M Group, they have an annual net income of £1.7b from the 6 retailers in the group which are; H&M, COS, Cheap Monday, Monki, Weekday and & Other Stories. Inditex and Gap are then the next profitable, between them, take a big chunk of the fashion retail market.
Interestingly featured on the list is the Kamani Family, who own Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing, both of which are online only. Both retailers have only been around for the last few years, but have built a big following, in part by celebrity endorsements and a strong presence on social media. Boohoo was founded in 2006 when online retailing was a fairly new concept, and social media was but a small part of some people’s lives. But how it’s all changed, when the family launched Pretty Little Things in 2011 the landscape had changed dramatically.
One thing that really helps online only brands are companies such like My Voucher Codes, retailers such as ASOS although they have a big presence flourish, thanks in part people shopping with them due to the discount voucher codes you can get. A lot of people now, when heading to a retailer or before paying, search for voucher code discounts to ensure they get the best deals.