Dover's town centre shops, already hit hard by the recession, could be heading for more problems, according to the latest research.

But the founder of a shopping app says shops and technology can work together to reverse the trend.

The Centre for Retail Research predicts that one in five high street shops will close over the next five years as more people turn to shopping online.

The report warns that retailers selling music, books, gifts and DIY are in the most danger of closure as the proportion of shopping done on the internet doubles to 22%.

Dan Wagner, chief executive of Powa Technologies, said: “This will be a wake-up call for many retailers that are sleep-walking into turmoil.

“We have already seen many established names go into administration this year alone, many of which because they haven’t done anything significant to acknowledge the change in how their customers are engaging with brands.

“Merely paying lip-service to online won’t cut the mustard with retail becoming hugely competitive. Instead, stores need to revolutionise both their online and high street offerings so that both can feed each other much more seamlessly.

“Forward thinking high street stores are treating the current sea-change in shopping as an opportunity to overhaul the way they do business. Instead of mourning the demise of our favourite stores, there should be a more concerted effort to save them using new approaches, not just aggressive discounting.”

Meanwhile, Alan Gabbay, founder of the shopping inspiration app Udozi which helps people search for and find items in shops near them, said: “This report from the CRR shows that Britain’s high-streets are failing to keep up with the demands of tech savvy shoppers who are abandoning the high street in favour for online.

“The prospect of one in five shops closing by 2018 is indeed a gloomy one, but contrary to this, our research shows that one in three consumers actually want to see more stores on UK high streets. So where are bricks and mortar stores going wrong?

“The answers lie in technology. Our research shows that 10% of Brits say that a lack of mobile or online presence is putting them off going in store – meaning that retailers need to adapt and embrace new technology if they are to survive.

“With more than a billion smartphone users worldwide, mobile is playing an increasingly important role in driving customers back into store. Over a quarter of smartphone users (26%) and over a third of tablet owners (35%) use their devices to browse for products online before going into store.

“What’s more, 70% of us would like to be able to reserve items on our phones to purchase on the high street, demonstrating the potential for mobile to bridge the gap between retailers’ online platforms and their traditional high street offering.

“For the British high street to survive, retailers must be quicker to adapt to new trends, evolve and embrace new technology trends such as mobile. Only then will they retain their competitive edge and continue to survive.”