Cash Converters UK is a Business Reporter client.
The UK high street has been slowly decimated over the past 15 years, first by the after-effects of the financial crisis of 2008, then by the relentless shift of consumer spending to online, and finally by Covid and its impact on some well-established brands that were forced to shutter their high-street locations.
Although we have seen many famous names disappear, in that time there has also been growth, and some hope that our high streets can, and will, survive.
Leading that has been Cash Converters, the pawnbroker and second-hand goods retailer with over 180 stores across the UK.
Riding what looks like a perfect storm, Cash Converters has helped galvanise the communities it is in, providing much-needed financial support for local people and local businesses. By default, it has also found itself at the forefront of the circular economy, not only by keeping its existing cash-savvy customer base happy, but by increasingly attracting the socially conscious younger generation too.
“Getting a customer is easy – keeping them and getting them to come back again and again. is much harder,” says CEO Carl Murray, in an interview with Business Reporter. Carl highlights how a blend of corporate-owned stores and a countrywide franchised network is better placed than most to understand the micro-needs of the hight street, local communities and consumers.
“Knowing our customers from a data perspective will allow us to harness new technologies to provide enhanced levels of service and support,” he explains. “Knowing them personally, face to face, In the store creates a level of connection that you will never get with data alone.” As he talks alignment, learning from past mistakes and a customer-first ideology, Murray sets out his plan for how Cash Converters will continue to innovate, expand its footprint and grow over the next five years.
