As River Island announces store closures, what do the public think of the brand?

River Island recently announced a wave of store closures throughout January, following a “major restructure”. The fashion retailer will have shuttered 27 branches in total by the end of the month. The brand cites online shopping and rising operational costs as reasons for the closures – but what do the public think?

YouGov BrandIndex asks the UK public a series of question about the nation’s fashion retailers every day, providing insight into River Island’s strengths and weaknesses. One area of strength: the brand’s likability. Impression scores, which measure overall positive and negative sentiment, sit at 14.0, which is higher than the category average of 11.2 for high street clothing brands.

Similarly, the brand outperforms when it comes to customer Satisfaction: scores tracking this metric are at 12.4 –2.5 points above the average. Consideration scores, which ask which brands consumers would consider using the next time they are in the market for clothing, sit at 12.5; 3.3 points ahead of high street clothing brands on average.

So, River Island has some advantages over the competition, but it also has some areas for improvement. Despite its generally solid likability, for example, River Island slightly underperforms when it comes to value for money: scores are at 2.6, compared to an industry average of 3.7. The perception that a brand is poor value is unhelpful at the best of times, and perhaps especially when spending is sluggish (our most recent consumer confidence data shows that the public are less optimistic about their household finances). Compounding this may be the fact River Island is believed to be poorer quality than the average brand: scores for this metric are 11.5 compared to an average of 12.1 for the industry.

Online competitors and rising costs could certainly have played a role in the brand’s January store closures. It is also worth restating that, as far as the public are concerned, it is a retailer with clear strengths. For River Island, however, preventing future closures may involve addressing the less favourable aspects of its brand image – such as its perceived quality and bang for buck – as well as taking on digital competitors.

This article originally appeared in City A.M.