It would have been hard to miss the troubles facing retailers in 2018, low consumer confidence, a free falling pound, high levels of debt generated through aggressive expansion and private equity buyouts, combined with changing consumer habits created a near perfect storm for many.
Trading between late October and the middle of January was meant to be the golden period that would turn retailers fortunes around and give them the financial clout to start 2019 on the front foot, putting the troubles of 2018 behind them.
But instead many have seen 4-5% reductions in footfall and have had to adopt mass (and deep) discounting to shift seasonal stock resulting in reductions in YOY sales, in excess of 15%.
Retailers with no clear USPs are in even more trouble and need to adapt quickly to survive. Sadly in many cases, they're not built to move fast, instead they rely on long decision-making processes with stock being bought up to 12 months in advance, meaning changes can take a long time to trickle down to the bottom line.
When focusing on selling third brand products - how can they compete with the likes of Amazon, ASOS and the convenience and ease they offer. No matter the number of PR campaigns calling on us to 'Save our High Streets' or the nostalgia that a visit to stores like HMV might generate, the crushing truth is that for many, product convenience is king and Amazon has proven to be the most convenient retailer of all time.
It's not all doom and gloom, in the past 24 months we've seen the emergence of direct to consumer brands that are growing at a rapid pace.
Companies like AllBirds, Away and The Ordinary have understood that they need to focus on their consumers over all else so that means removing retailers from their go-to market strategy. As well as increasing their margins this has allowed them to truly understand what the customer wants from their product reducing the need for discounting due to wrong stock decisions.
John Lewis & Partners signalled an adoption of some of this strategy in 2018 with record investment in their own brand fashion offering and by jettisoning a number of third-party brands from their portfolio, the effects will really be seen in 2019.
Hopefully, enough of our great retailers take these steps quickly in 2019 and really connect to their shoppers and are not paralyzed by fear, or debt, which could result in them going the way of House of Fraser.
At the end of the day, the fundamentals of retail are no different in 2019 than they were in 1919 - the right product, at the right price for the right customer. Sadly with the scale and speed they need to operate at to satisfy modern consumer demands that's no longer an easy task!