Billionaire Mike Ashley And Sports Direct Will Survive The Coronavirus By Picking Up Exactly Where They Left Off

As of Monday, billionaire retail tycoon, Mike Ashley, will finally be able to open his stores, the very same Sports Direct stores which, back in March, he failed to persuade the government were supplying essential goods. It’s been a long three months since Tuesday March 24, but don’t expect them to look very different from the day they brought down the shutters.

No doubt there’ll be some black and yellow tape on the floor, some hand sanitiser and maybe a “marshal” on the door. But other than that, expect it to be the same sort of experience as it always was.

Let’s face it, you didn’t visit a Sports Direct store for their visual merchandising or exciting in store activities. No, if you were seeking inspiration and a shopping experience you went to the likes of Nike
NKE
or Adidas.

That’s not to say that shopping at Sports Direct is not an experience, it’s just that it’s not necessarily one which we relish. Functional, to the point, in your face retailing, designed to cloth the nation in joggers and hoodies. After all, that Everlast top or Umbro football shirt were always intended for those nights out in Malaga weren’t they?

But here’s the thing, all that is fine. Because the government guidance actually plays to Sports Direct’s strengths. Retailers up and down the country are all trying to solve the challenge of delivering a great socially distanced experience for their customers from Monday June 15.

But if you’ve never worried too much about the experience in the first place, and I’m not decrying them here, because Ashley’s stores do their job remarkably effectively, then the need for social distancing isn’t going to hugely destabilise the operation.

In other words, the execution of the store experience will not be that far from what it was pre-pandemic. Customer expectations will be met, job done.

In contrast with other brands who will have to fundamentally, and in some cases, approach the problem by radically re-engineering their stores, Sports Direct will doubtless be able to accelerate out of the traps. The challenge for others will be by just how much will the enforced changes detract from the overall customer experience.

And if this is the case, will this translate into a much reduced footfall? According to Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the New West End Company, footfall on Oxford Street next week is expected to be at around 20% of its normal volume.

Which means that attracting customers into store under the new rules of engagement is going to be a lot more challenging than previously.

But for Sports Direct, the dilution of the store experience under COVID-19 rules, will be far less than for some of its competitors. It does what it says on the tin, you know what you’re going to get. And in that way, something which might otherwise have been perceived as a weakness, will actually become a strength.