The internet and social media have changed how we shop, giving shoppers the option to explore West London’s high streets without ever stepping outside. While AI is often criticised for stripping away the human element, it will likely make your future shopping trip feel more personal, not less.
Curious to see what the future of West London’s high streets could look like in five, ten, or even fifteen years’ time? Here’s how Christopher Baker, founder of CreativeWeb, imagines AI will change everyday life for people living, working, and shopping across West London.
AI Will Become a Personal Concierge
Shoppers will be able to entrust the less glamorous side of shopping on West London’s high street, such as errands and planning, to AI. This delegation will make shopping less of a chore and more of an experience. When this happens, every West Londoner could have their own personal assistant to plan their day automatically on their behalf.
These AI assistants (or concierges) will take care of logistical details like suggesting the best route. Not only will it be able to reduce your commuting time, but also the time wasted in queues as it might even reserve items before you arrive.
Can’t decide what’s for dinner? You’ll also be able to offload decisions to your AI personal assistant as it will be able to use your history and preferences to dish up personalised restaurant recommendations all while filtering out places that appear unreliable.
Business Activity Shaped by Anticipated Needs
AI won’t only help shoppers with their planning, but also business owners. It will give them the ability to anticipate what’s very likely to happen next.
Is there a weather swing brewing which means that you should prepare more iced tea instead of flat whites? Will footfall traffic spike later than usual because of an accident that’s delaying commuters? Is there a sold-out football match later that evening that could bring more footfall past your store after it has closed?
With this data, businesses can make strategic adjustments. They can, for example, use it to stock more grab-and-go items, adjust their operating hours just for a day, or schedule more waiters for a rush.
Chris believes that these AI forecasts will also transform how promotions work. Instead of generic offers that run for days, AI will ensure that promotions are shared at the right moment based on habits and in line with stock. No more “while stocks last”.
It will track live inventory levels and customers’ movements to serve personalised promotions based on your location (or habits) and what the store can offer. For example, a customer walking through Notting Hill might get a personalised notification offering 15% off the skincare range they browsed yesterday.
It could be our answer to sustainability issues. Bakeries, for instance, can bake fewer pastries on mornings anticipated to be slower than usual, reducing food waste.
Plus, as kitchens will be able to anticipate needs accurately, product quality will rise too. No more overpreparing “just in case” only to serve yesterday’s scones when sales were lower.
Reputation Can Change by the Minute
Forget basing your restaurant selection based on the reviews it received last month, or even last week. Chris believes that shops will have to adapt far more quickly than they do today as AI will continuously summarise live public sentiment from a variety of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Google.
This means that businesses will have to learn how to respond faster to protect their credibility. Chris suggests, “Businesses can write quick updates when new stock has arrived or when lunch rush has eased.” Imagine the impact it can have on your shopping choices if your watch could tell you when your favourite deli pulls a fresh batch of pastries from the oven.
For local, independent businesses, it can level the playing field. If they invest in building and, more importantly, maintaining a strong digital presence, they’ll be able to stand out. In fact, in the future, they may even outperform bigger chains.
If local stores make an effort to share real customer reviews on their website and social media pages and regularly update their menus and photos, AI will prioritise them in recommendations. Plus, unlike chains that have to wait for the person higher up in the chain of command to approve these types of updates, local shops have a headstart as they can update instantly.
Physical Layout of High Streets
AI’s impact on West London’s high streets as we know won’t be limited to digital interactions. It could also change the physical layout of the streets.
Similarly to how it recommends which wine to enjoy with your meal or pair of shoes to complete your outfit, it can suggest which clusters of businesses should be located together. For example, if AI repeatedly recommends certain types of shops to specific search queries like “a vegan restaurant nearby a pilates studio”, these businesses will also start to appear together in the real world over time. The picture will be more micro-districts within high streets.
The New Reality: Seamless Online-offline Retail
CreativeWeb has been helping businesses optimise their online presence for AI visibility and is seeing how changes are appearing first hand. AI will build on top of retailers’ websites, digital marketing, and online reputation. The digital trust that these create will become as important as your physical experience.
Businesses with a weak digital presence will decline gradually. On the other hand, some streets may enjoy a revival as digital visibility sends more foot traffic towards them.
