When Ikea's head of sustainability, Steve Howard, forecast a few years ago that the West had reached 'peak stuff,' there was a sharp intake of breath throughout the retail and marketing industry. Had the man working for the world's biggest furnishings retailer just signed Ikea's death warrant? After all, the Swedish retailer was the world's leading cheerleader in creating disposable, knock-up and knock-down consumable goods and, some would say, partly to blame for us having so much 'stuff'. Retail pain: The Boxing Day sales brought some relief to the High Street where 36 retailers went bust this year Yet Howard's prediction has been proved spot-on. If you look at the shape of the retail figures over the last few years, the way that consumers spend is changing dramatically. This is one of the most interesting and underlying reasons why the High Street is in such a bloodbath and why 36 retailers went bust this year. And if the shrieks from the country's biggest retailers, such as Asos and Sports Direct are correct, then sales this Christmas have been worse than feared – you know all the scapegoats. The reality is shoppers are spending less with traditional retailers. We are also recycling more, and spending more on 'experiences' like the theatre and live concerts where sales are booming. There's another 'on-trend' riddle for retailers to crack. That's the power of celebrities such as the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan, to move massive lines of stock in hours, as well as the influence of young bloggers such as Zoella Sugg, with 1m followers on Instagram, who charges brands £12,600 a post. At Harvey Nichols, they call it 'We've done a Holly again.' When Holly Willoughby, the TV presenter, appeared on I'm a Celebrity in hiker boots made by shoemaker Grenson, more than 400 pairs of the £255 boots sold within hours and the website crashed. How do you plan stocks on sudden sales surges like that? THE good news is that retailers are fighting back with new tricks to meet the new trends. Gymshark is a great example of how a high-fashion sportswear brand has unashamedly used celebrity body-builders as 'influencers' to market its brand, and grow its young fan base into a social community of 5m youngsters. There's another top fashion brand which is working on secret plans to offer customers 'money back' on products if they are returned once the buyer has outgrown them or got bored. The concept is that when the retailer sells you a pair of jeans, it promises to give you back, say £5, when you return the goods so the materials can be recycled: not unlike Coca-Cola's money back for glass bottles. Renting stuff, whether its cars or dresses, is also growing fast as Rent the Runway, the US online retailer, which lends out designer dresses and accessories for big occasions, has shown so successfully. Using analytics to know your customer better and offering personalised services are also on the increase, particularly now that retailers have discovered a generation of youngsters who do not have a clue how to do DIY. Dunelm, the furniture stores group, has just created a self-sticking wallpaper so customers don't have to worry about messing about with sticky paste while B&Q has more than 300 films on YouTube showing customers how to paint a ceiling or clean out sheds. Home Depot, the American chain, runs videos teaching its customers how to use measuring tapes while Halfords, the car and bike chain, is growing its services business because its customers do not know how to change a tyre or replace tail lights. And Ikea? Well, it is now making furniture without the need for screws and bolts. And the stuff is recyclable. Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
Retailers are fighting back against declining sales and adapting to changing consumer behaviour by embracing influencers, recycling and other new trends, according to Howard, head of sustainability at IKEA. B&Q has posted more than 300 films on YouTube demonstrating how to paint ceilings and other DIY tasks, while Dunelm has created self-sticking wallpaper, and IKEA is making screwless, boltless furniture that is also recyclable.