The post-COVID UK high street: A case study of the unique use of experiential marketing by charity shops

This article discusses how consumers’ shopping habits have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how these changes have affected the United Kingdom’s local commercial centres. The focus of the article is on the shifts in commercial consumption during the pandemic and the resultant rise in importance of the charity shop. The application of experiential marketing by the charity sector via their retail sites is examined to understand their elevation of importance during the pandemic. Research undertaken evidences that these shops provided needed experiences for their customers during a public health crisis, and this article fills a significant gap in scholarship conducted exploring the use of experiential marketing within the charity sector. Primary research was gathered through online and in-person surveys and analysed using thematic analysis to understand underlying opinions about charity shops and their place on the Withington high street, an urban residential community in the city of Manchester in the northwest of England. The results of this study indicate that the ways in which charity shops use experiential marketing could be extended to the larger retail environment as a method to gain higher footfall within local commercial retail areas which benefits greater engagement with the public areas within communities.