Express & Star comment: Online shopping killing our town centres

The restrictions on our lives caused by coronavirus have brought online shopping to a crescendo, with food sales surging thanks to the lockdown convenience of home delivery, on top of the more "traditional" – so far as there are any traditions with such a new medium – items which people are inclined to buy over the internet.

The big question is what happens in the After. After those non-essential shops have reopened, and people are no longer asked to stay home as much as possible, will there be a mass return to the High Street?

Some of the latest retail figures have shown how the sector has been hurting, with independents having had a tough time over the past year.

If they are relying on customer loyalty, that will help a little, but the reality is that the constituency of loyal customers has shrunk, and many modern shoppers are most loyal to keen prices, good ranges, and shopping convenience, and are now used to having items delivered to their doorstep.

There again, online shopping is anti-social and humans are by nature social creatures, which suggests a way for shopping hubs to adapt and develop. They can do this by being more than places to shop, by becoming "destinations" to attract people to shop, socialise, relax, hang out, have a drink and a meal, and perhaps enjoy some entertainment.

There is a debate to be had over whether, if town centre shops remain stubbornly empty and cannot be filled by retail replacements, it might be time to think about turning them into homes.

This would return people to live in the heart of towns, and go some way to reversing the drift – maybe stampede better describes it – to the suburbs and housing estates. That is a controversial route as from a planning point of view it could be perceived as conniving in the destruction of the shopping hearts of communities.

If you did a survey, respondents would no doubt say independent shops are a jolly good thing and worth keeping.

Yet sentiment and sympathy pays no bills. So it is actions, through continuing to support independent traders both by using their websites and shopping there when they reopen, which will really count.