Insights from Clare Bailey, The Retail Champion
If you want the unfiltered truth about the future of UK retail, you ask someone who’s been inside the boardrooms of Amazon, SumUp, Netflix, SAP and Accenture…
Someone who’s also stood on the shop floor helping indies survive the toughest years the high street has ever seen.
I sat down with Clare Bailey, The Retail Champion, one of the UK’s most respected retail experts, media commentators and government advisors, to dive into what’s really coming for UK retail in 2026.
What she shared was bold, honest, funny, occasionally fiery… and exactly what retailers need to hear.
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High Street Health Check
Are High Streets Back?
We’re in what Clare calls the “functional but fragile” era:
- Footfall is stabilising.
- Vacancy remains too high.
- Councils still underestimate the impact of business rates and parking policies.
- High streets aren’t “just retail” anymore — they’re mixed-use ecosystems.
A winning high street blends:
eating, socialising, services, leisure, workspace, and retail — curated around real local demographics.
The Treat Economy Isn’t Going Anywhere
Frequency of visits may dip, but people still crave:
- A great coffee
- A blow-dry
- Something fun for the kids
- A cosy, welcoming, social space
Moments of joy drive footfall.
Who’s Getting It Right?
Clare’s shortlist of high street heroes:
- Altrincham
- Stockport
- St Ives
- Margate
- North Berwick
- Knowle
- Gainsborough
- Sheffield (award-winning transformation)
Their secret?
Curated, not cluttered.
Independent-led ecosystems.
Safe, welcoming environments with great public realm.
What Councils Still Don’t Get
Retailers want basics, not bureaucracy:
- Clean, safe streets
- Sensible parking
- Straightforward licensing
- Real collaboration
- Practical support for traders
And faster wins:
Shop-front grants, wayfinding, public realm TLC, small-scale regeneration, digital support for traders.
Not every solution needs 15 years and £15 million.
Too many strategies are written by people who have never run a shop.
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The Customer of 2026: Loyalty Gets Emotional
Forget points and stamps — they’re background noise.
Clare says customer loyalty is now driven by:
✔ Ease
Remove friction. Reduce faff. Make it effortless.
✔ Reassurance
Customers want to feel smart, informed and safe when buying.
✔ Reward
Not discounts — delight.
Gamification and personalised perks win from Lidl’s spin-the-wheel to Boots’ personalised Advantage Card treats, people love a tiny dopamine hit and a moment of fun.
And sustainability?
Consumers want honest, minimally preachy, ethically sound choices. If a brand helps them feel good about buying — without effort — it wins.
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Retail Tech & AI in 2026: Useful, Not Hype
AI isn’t coming for your shop.
It’s coming for your admin.
Clare predicts AI’s biggest wins will be in:
- Stock planning
- Basic analysis
- Content creation
- Customer service
- EPOS-driven insights
- Pricing optimisation
- Time savings across the board
The retailers who win will be those who use tech to give staff more time with customers — not less.
Best ROI tech buys for independents
- A smart EPOS with analytics
- Fully optimised Google Business Profile
- Click & collect or local elocker pickup
- Simple email automation
- Strong ecommerce platform
- Decent in-store Wi-Fi
Big-player innovations filtering down
From Clare’s work with Amazon and co:
- Frameless checkout
- Flexible payments
- Transparent delivery tracking
- Smarter replenishment
- Dynamic pricing (done sensitively)
But don’t try to do everything.
Pick one upgrade at a time. Nail it. Then move to the next.
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Sustainability & Ethics: Practical, Not Preachy
Consumers care about:
- Integrity
- Good advice
- Quality that lasts
- Genuine environmental choices
- Zero greenwashing
Trends that grow in 2026:
- Preloved (strong)
- Repair (going mainstream)
- Rental (niche but valued)
- Refill (only when clean + slick)
Packaging remains under the microscope too — minimum, recyclable, compostable where possible.
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Teams, Skills & Retail Culture in 2026
Recruitment will stay tough, especially front-of-house. But the expectations are clearer:
Skills retailers desperately need
- Confident salespeople
- Tech-comfortable staff
- Strong product knowledge
- Personality and emotional intelligence
The three skills every team needs
- Active selling (not pushy)
- Digital confidence
- EQ that builds both culture and customer loyalty
Gen Z want:
- Fairness
- Flexibility
- Proper training
- Recognition
- A manager who actually communicates
Culture is now a retention strategy.
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Strategy & Survival: Mistakes Retailers Must Avoid in 2026
❌ Biggest pitfalls
- Waiting instead of adapting
- Discounting too quickly
- Buying shiny tech instead of improving service
- Ignoring loyal locals while chasing online strangers
✔ Smartest moves for 2026
- Tighten your range
- Back the winners
- Cut the dead stock
- Boost margins
- Improve service
- Own your Google Business Profile
- Collaborate locally
- Build real customer data
- Add joy into the experience
Small, compounding improvements beat big, risky bets.
If Clare inherited a failing shop… the first 3 fixes
- Range
- Service
- Visibility
In that order.
Why? Because retail fundamentals still matter in 2026.
If the product, price, promotion and presentation aren’t right, then no amount of customer service training or community engagement will save you. And if those aren’t right, then turning up the visibility is actively dangerous, it just accelerates disappointment.
Get the range right first: the right products, priced properly, merchandised well, and promoted with clarity.
Then invest in service: warm greetings, trained staff, an experience that feels intentional.
Only then should you shout about who you are.
Because there’s no point driving footfall if people walk in, look around, and walk straight out thinking, “What was the point of that?” Poor basics don’t just hurt conversion — in a world of instant reviews, they create negative visibility.
So as we head into 2026: before you chase attention, fix the foundations. Visibility should amplify excellence, not expose the cracks.
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Bold, Fun & Spicy: The Trends Clare Wants Gone
Trends that need to die:
❌ “Generic pop-ups” with no story, no experience and no relevance.
A pop-up should be exciting, not filler.
Trends no one is talking about:
Local premium.
People will happily pay more for locally made, beautifully branded, unique products — if the experience matches the price.
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Lessons from the Giants (and from the Horizon Scandal)
Across Amazon, Netflix, SumUp, SAP, Accenture and more, Clare sees the same pattern:
Big players obsess over:
- Customer journey
- Data
- Removing friction
- Automating the dull stuff
- Keeping humans where they matter
But they can’t be hyperlocal.
Indies can — and that’s the competitive edge.
And the Horizon scandal lesson?
Opaque tech = danger.
Trust requires:
- Transparent data
- Clear reporting
- Proper support
- Zero “black box” mystery
The Horizon scandal is a reminder that the people closest to the counter often see risks long before head office does, if leaders don’t listen, systems unravel.
And after the 2025 cyberattacks on Rolls-Royce, Co-op, and M&S, security is no longer optional.
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Hope for 2026: Yes, Really
What gives Clare hope?
The creativity and grit of independent retailers.
They innovate faster.
They build community.
They create experiences algorithms can’t.
And Clare’s final message to every indie retailer on 1 January 2026?
“Perfection is a myth and waiting is a luxury. Start where you are, with what you have. The retailers who act will be the ones still standing this time next year.”
Perfection is a myth and waiting is a luxury. Start where you are, with what you have. The retailers who act will be the ones still standing this time next year.
About the Author
Steph Briggs is the Head of Content at Retail Champion and the strategic voice behind our blogs, reports and Retail Reckoning ecosystem. A retail and e-commerce specialist with more than two decades of hands-on experience, Steph blends real-world shop floor insight with sharp digital strategy to help retailers navigate an industry that never sits still.
A former multi-award-winning independent retailer and long-time Shopify consultant, she’s spent her career helping small businesses, high street brands and national organisations find clarity, confidence and commercial impact through better marketing, smarter content and customer-first thinking.
At Retail Champion, Steph works closely with Clare Bailey and the wider consulting team to turn complex retail trends into practical, actionable guidance for businesses of all sizes. Whether she’s decoding consumer behaviour, crafting SEO-powered content, or shaping high-impact marketing ecosystems, her goal is always the same: to help retailers cut through the noise and focus on what truly moves the needle.
When she’s not writing, you’ll find her on the Scottish coast, wrangling family life, wild swimming, or testing out ideas for the next retail revolution.
