The challenges that have plagued the UK retail sector this year are expected to intensify over the course of 2019.
Factors include changing consumer behavior, oversupply of bricks-and-mortar stores, high levels of legacy debt, regulatory costs, economic and political challenges, and a lack of talent at the top of retail businesses to help deliver change.

Retailers have to brace for uncertainties in the year ahead by controlling the controllable. Many retailers are already too late to put in place contingency plans in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

The heavy discounting of non-food items could lessen in 2019. Retailers have reached the point where they cannot discount any deeper. Those who are left have to protect their margins and they may accept fewer sales at a higher price. In some cases, no sale is better than a bad sale.

While online continues to dominate, there is a definite potential swing back toward bricks-and-mortar stores as shoppers seek out a more tangible experience, and awareness grows around the true cost of home delivery.

Fashion retailers may continue to see the value of investing in store teams via training programs, as employees play an important role in converting browsers into buyers.