Where’s the festive spirit?

Debenhams

First impressions as you walk through the door are positive – the decorations certainly lift the Christmas spirits. A sign at the door points customers to appropriate floors for gift shopping and signs across the store indicate potential gift ideas. The staff member stationed at the escalator to give advice isn’t very useful, but she is at least cheerful.

But the positives stop there. As Puryer points out: “It’s claustrophobic. It has low ceilings, yet they’ve crammed it full of stock. It would be difficult to shop here with a pram and kids.” The store is also very hot. Tempers could fray.

The Christmas shop area is also something of a damp squib, Puryer says. “It’s not well-replenished and it’s as if they’ve said: ‘Here’s a corner of the store, let’s stick it here,” he says, adding that this area of the store has over-promised and under-delivered.

WHSmith, The Plaza

A cardboard bin urging shoppers to grab their festive purchase is… totally empty. As are numerous shelves and displays. In short, availability is horrendous. It’s 5pm on a Monday and Puryer says there is no way the problems are down to today’s trading. “It looks like the store has taken a hammering over the weekend, but replenishment should be sorted by now.”

Navigating the store is also a challenge. There are so many mobile units and the units are so high, you can’t see your way around it. Shopping here with children would be a parents’ nightmare.

In fairness, queues move quickly and there is a Christmas theme, but tacky strings of bright foil randomly strewn from the ceiling are a bit lacklustre. As Puryer says: “It’s a shame that this iconic retailer seems a bit stuck behind the times. It makes you think: ‘Poor old Smith’s’.”

John Lewis

The most remarkable thing about John Lewis is the speed at which they are managing a sizeable queue in the Christmas gift area. Having one person packing and one serving ensures a hassle-free experience for shoppers.

The Christmas theme is subtle, but present throughout, and the retailer has accounted for increased footfall and people needing direction with plenty of signage and till points.

On the downside, it’s bizarre to have gift ideas on the ground floor and the Christmas shop on the second. “I don’t know why they haven’t done a bit more cross-selling,’ says Puryer. The toy section on the children’s floor also feels a bit like an afterthought. “Not enough has been done to entice the customer,” he adds. On the whole, though, stock is well-replenished, the store is spacious and generally has a good layout, and there are plenty of people around to ask for advice. “A very shoppable store,” he concludes.

HMV, Oxford Street West

Blink and you would miss HMV’s tiniest of nods towards Christmas in the store: the odd outline of a Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling and a random corner of the first floor promoting gift ideas. “Either do it properly or don’t bother,” suggests Puryer.

Nevertheless, the store is coping well with the Christmas rush. “It’s busy, but very well-replenished,” he says. “They’ve been clever with their gift promotions and items for sale by the tills, which are likely to boost add-on sales.” But the store does look tired and crammed, with product piled up in the passageways.

The books sections are a mess. Many of the titles look out of date and the shelves look like a second-hand book store. You wonder why HMV bothers at all, because it’s not going to tempt people to buy them as Christmas gifts. Overall, though, there are plenty of staff and headline ranges are well-signposted. “Not bad at all,” says Puryer.

H&M, Bond Street Tube

The store is a mess. There is a bizarre Christmas display at the entrance with an odd underwear/jewellery combination. Customers have also dumped unwanted products all over it and the gift-card rack is empty. Not the greatest of sights to greet customers as they enter the store. Puryer questions why they haven’t done more with a party outfit theme that would inspire people to buy.

The queues on the ground floor are very long. There are six tills with only two open and waiting customers are blocking the aisle. “It’s shocking. They could easily move those standing rails to create more space,” says Puryer. “I can only see one person on each floor keeping on top of displays and merchandising. That’s not enough for a shop of this size and, as a result, it’s messy, with product lying around on the floor.” This shop is not for the faint-hearted.

Boots, Sedley Place

Boots has boldly promised the “Best Christmas Shop Ever” on the second floor, but Puryer says this is highly debatable. Firstly, it’s strangely laid out – cards are tucked away at the back next to trolleys full of cardboard. It feels like you’ve walked into the stock room. It’s not well-merchandised either. “A classic example is the magazine subscription gift boxes that are stacked precariously on a shelf – these are seasonal products and Boots isn’t sure how to display them,” Puryer says.

But there are plenty of good points. The ground floor is bright, spacious and has a solid Christmas theme. The basement has plenty of people on the tills and someone to offer advice – “a great idea at Christmas,” says Puryer. Oddly, there’s no festive theme on the first floor. “I know this isn’t where you’d buy presents, but be consistent,” he suggests. This store is fine, but it’s nothing spectacular.

Marks & Spencer Pantheon

Because this is a newly refitted store, it’s inevitably going to look that bit fresher, but its design also makes it feel bright, clean and easy to shop in.

As Puryer says: “This is a solid store with a fairly good Christmas theme throughout, good availability and a reasonable offer. You can’t knock it.” It’s also fairly easy to navigate, although there are areas around the clothing where it’s tight on space.

Puryer particularly likes the gift section, which is well-merchandised and themed by colours. “The new electricals department also works well and it’s something different,” he adds. “Staffing on the tills is good, but I’m not aware of many on the shopfloor to help.”

Compared with a lot of the other shops today, Marks & Spencer would be a joy to shop in. “It’s not especially amazing, but it more than does the job and will keep customers happy,” says Puryer.

Next, Bond Street

“Horrible. Just horrible,” says Puryer. There is no discernible Christmas theme apart from a few seemingly random signs hanging from random points in the ceiling saying “Next Christmas” and some boxes wrapped in gift paper lying around on shelves. Then you stumble across what looks like an excuse for a gift section.

Puryer says: “There are long queues, not all the tills are manned and stock is piled up behind the counters. The store is also very tight on space – it seems like there’s far too much stock. I’ve just walked into one of the units and I’ve not even got any bags or a pushchair.

A couple of staff float around aimlessly not doing a lot, yet there are random piles of products lying around on units that haven’t been redisplayed. “It’s a shame, because the window displays make you feel like it’s going to be Christmassy inside,” notes Puryer. In conclusion, a poor show.

Conclusion

Some of the total scores for these retailers may indicate a better performance than their write-ups suggest, but this is because points have been awarded for the inclusion of a Christmas theme throughout the store. However, as Puryer says, this is not necessarily the be-all and end-all from a consumer’s point of view.

“Because so many people leave their shopping so late these days, your window of opportunity to encourage them to spend in your store is that much narrower, so it’s crucial that retailers get things like customer journey and availability right,” he explains.

Shoppers’ time is in short supply in the run-up to Christmas, so most would happily sacrifice a festive theme if it meant they were able to browse the store easily and buy what they wanted quickly. Sadly, several retailers failed on such basics. In the case of Debenhams, an over-heated store is only going to try customers’ patience and will make many leave as quickly as possible.

It’s not all bad news, though. Most retailers had their queues under control and organised so that they would not affect other shoppers in the store. John Lewis, Boots and Debenhams also ensured that there were extra staff on hand to answer queries.

However, online sales are soaring ever higher each Christmas and all retailers need to work increasingly hard to make the in-store experience as stress-free as possible. Judging by this year’s efforts, it’s not hard to see why more consumers are shunning the high street in favour of shopping from the comfort of their own homes.