Retailers must adapt to trends led by consumers born since the mid-1970s. I’ve been around retail for more than three decades and have seen some tumultuous changes.

Retailers must adapt to trends led by consumers born since the mid-1970s. I’ve been around retail for more than three decades and have seen some tumultuous changes.

Yet never has the pace of change been so rapid. We are experiencing a transformation in consumer behaviour, led by Generation Y. These customers were born after the mid-1970s, and display significantly different values and behaviour from their parents.

Generation Y now comprises the bulk of the economically active population. Generation Y is less trusting of authority and, empowered by the internet, expects immediate understanding and instant gratification.

Generation Y demands price transparency and comparative value. Today’s retailers have to appreciate that its needs and wants vary radically from those of its predecessors.

Take newspapers. Generation Y is more sceptical about newsprint. People query walking to a shop to buy information from just one source, instead of accessing a diverse variety of up-to-date news and views outlets free of charge from a tablet or mobile.

When you put it that way, the model could sound fragile. And while I might rather be in the retail business than in newspapers right now, we must apply the same logic. We have to refine our own businesses to shape up to the new reality.

In recent weeks, Comet, HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster, former stalwarts of the high street, have fallen into administration. They are unlikely to be the last well-known names to encounter difficulty. Seismic changes are engulfing UK retailing.

Some sectors, such as travel or entertainment, have largely migrated towards online. For others, a ‘clicks-and-mortar’ strategy is evolving.

Certainly, no sector is immune from customers’ desire for 24/7 ability to browse, compare and make a purchase. It is incumbent upon us, as retailers, not only to swiftly adapt to customer demands, but to seek to understand how best to anticipate them.

In these straitened economic times, some might assume that the BrightHouse weekly payments model, serving a clearly identified customer demographic, might render it uniquely resilient to the substantial behavioural changes inspired by Generation Y.

Nothing is further from the reality. BrightHouse customers are increasingly connected, and communicate extensively through Facebook and Twitter. Devices that were formerly expensive, high-tech products are now part of everyday life for our customers - and for pretty well all consumers.

We are responding to the challenge of change. We have just hired our first head of ecommerce. Our embryonic digital marketing programmes are eliciting a positive response in customer attitude and in sales volumes.

Customer convenience has to be an integral element in the retail offer. For BrightHouse, this still means being located within the heart of the high street. Our customers often do wish to touch and try the product, and to receive relevant advice from a skilled adviser. At the same time, they absolutely insist on being able to communicate through the web. We have to be there too.

  • Leo McKee is chief executive of BrightHouse