Places of Phygital Shopping Experiences? The New Supply Frontier of Business Improvement Districts in the Digital Age

Diogo Silva,Herculano Cachinho

doi:10.3390/su132313150

Abstract

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have flourished as local governance structures to foster the vitality and viability of traditional shopping districts that have struggled to adapt to retail changes. This paper examines the evolution of placemaking activities that former UK government-funded pilot BIDs have delivered over the last 15 years. Drawing on an exploratory sequential research design that combines a qualitative and quantitative thematic analysis of 72 BIDs’ business plans, the findings suggest that UK BIDs have described a non-hierarchical operational framework as services providers considering that: (i) elementary placemaking services, such as ‘clean, green and safe’, have regained thematic relevance due to recent environmental sustainability concerns; (ii) higher-tier lobbying and advocacy services have been an operational priority since BIDs’ inception; (iii) while consumer and place marketing/branding services have seen continual thematic reductions, digital presence and marketing services have emerged as a new category of operational activities. These results extend place management and BID-related literature by discussing the growing role that digital marketing services may perform in the management of town centers and high streets and are relevant to practitioners as it discusses how place management organizations should reposition their operational strategies towards the creation of places of phygital shopping experiences.

Highlights

UK town centers and high streets are recognized as sleeping giants for many
In contrast to the claim that digital channels threaten the economic vitality of town centers, these results show that some Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have recently found that digital shopping methods—which allow consumers to browse and buy online and choose to collect their products in the BID area—are a ‘window of opportunity’ because it allows traditional shopping districts to embrace new shopping behaviors and bring multi-channel shoppers back into the district
BIDs have provided as place management organizations over the past 15 years

Summary

Introduction

UK town centers and high streets are recognized as sleeping giants for many. This syndrome has an international resonance and dates back to the 1970s and 1980s when the rise of a ‘retail revolution’ undermined the vitality and viability of several town centers as traditional shopping destinations [1,2,3,4]. We have witnessed a switch from multichannel business models, mostly operated by independent retailers, to omnichannel business models, in which retail companies actively explore the assets of both physical and virtual worlds [12,13,14]. Such a shift has affected companies’ store portfolio management strategies as some retailers have been assessing the need to relocate or even close part of their premises. These retail switches, which were recently accelerated by the uncertainty of the COVID-19 lockdown regulations, have resulted in a downward spiral of traditional

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Conclusion