Digitalisation of the Regional High Street: Exploring Community Perceptions

UK high streets and town centres have been facing a significant decline over the past decade, characterised by increasing vacancy rates, reduced footfall, and the closure of both chain and independent stores. This trend, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to detrimental impacts on local communities. However, the pandemic paradoxically sparked a renewed interest in localism and particularly independent retailers, as consumers sought to support local businesses during lockdowns. This shift in consumer behaviour, coupled with the accelerated adoption of digital technologies, presents a unique opportunity to reimagine the role of independent retailers in high street and town centre regeneration.
Previous research has emphasised that stemming retail decline requires value co-creation between local community stakeholders, with digitalisation emerging as a potential catalyst for this process. However, there remains a gap in understanding how independent retailers, often with limited resources, can effectively leverage digital tools to create value in their local context. This research therefore explores the extent to which local community retailers have used digital tools to create value and examines the complex dynamics of this process within the broader local community ecosystem.
Using a case study approach, this study examines three distinct local high streets in Derbyshire. Data was collected through documents and 37 semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders, including independent retailers, local council representatives, landlords, community champions, and town teams, providing a holistic perspective.
The study contributes to knowledge by identifying how independent retailers are co-creating value with each other, their customers and also with the wider local community stakeholders. It reveals the concept of 'coopetition' among small, independent retailers in local communities, where collaboration and competition coexist. This finding also exposes how independent retailers go beyond their traditional economic roles, becoming key actors in building resilient communities. Their authentic commitment to local areas manifests through collaborative community engagement, active participation in local initiatives, and partnerships with various stakeholders. This deep community embeddedness, coupled with their agility and autonomy, enables independent retailers to co-create 'hyper-local' value in ways that larger chains cannot replicate, and this is amplified by adopting digital tools. The research also uncovers the dual nature of digital technology for independent retailers, demonstrating both its value co-creation potential and the risk of value co-destruction if not managed effectively.