High Street Retail Demise Gains Momentum in the UK as Growth in Direct Commerce and DRTV is Predicted in 2025

Retail sales in UK towns and city centres decreased by 7.9% year on year in December 2024 according to Rendle Intelligence and Insights. While the Centre for Retail Research released more challenging statistics this month regarding the consistent demise of High Street retail in the UK; with 13,479 stores of varying sizes closing in 2024 – a 28% increase on the previous year – with over 130,000 jobs lost in the process.

Under pressure from the Labour government’s first budget last October including higher national insurance contributions, the business levy that particularly affects the retail and hospitality sectors, combined with doggedly high business rates, many stalwart UK retailers including the Co-op, WH Smiths and Shoe Zone have had to close yet more shop doors during 2025, with industry commentators forecasting a further 17,000 outlets to close over the coming year alone in the UK.

Many brands who have previously been heavily reliant on the High Street for most of their wholesale sales are predictably now sharpening their focus on growing their direct commerce revenues to manage reducing revenues and footfall from traditional retail. 

In 2024 26.2% of total sales were made online and this figure is predicted to grow again in 2025 and beyond as multichannel retail continues to adapt to consumer demand and changing buying habits.

Concurrently the media costs of some of the key digital/online media owners including Meta (6% YoY) and Google (13% YoY) have continued to inflate in the last twelve months in the UK as e-Commerce demand grows.

For direct response television (DRTV) advertisers conversely, the cost of TV airtime has deflated in the last 18 months, driven partially by the growth in Subscription Video on Demand platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. This development has led to many brands now adopting DRTV advertising to drive and scale profitable growth in online sales and incremental brand awareness of their products and services in a challenging retail market – the future remains bright for those brands willing to break away from traditional marketing and distribution in the UK, as we continue to see growth in Direct Commerce and DRTV.