Weybridge is well serviced by various transport links, including a fairly main train station for change over’s to and from London. This train station also has direct trains to Woking and Guildford, which are also main stations for going up north and also down to Cornwall etc. Train’s to London come every 20 minutes as do trains to Woking and Guildford. This mean’s it is very easy to travel to Weybridge, with a large variety of different trains you can get on to get there.
There is also a strong bus route throughout Weybridge, travelling through it, as well as connecting it to various other towns remarkably Kingston, which is a massive shopping hub in the South East.
As you can see Bus’s run through Weybridge, 4 times an hour, which equates to one every 15 minutes. The main linked towns are Kingston, Staines and Woking, which are all big shopping town’s, with large shopping centre’s or alike.
Transport links aren’t just restricted to public transport. There is a large variety of different Taxi companies, mostly based by the station, where you will find an abundance of taxis.
AGM Cars Ltd Dial-A-Kab
Station Yard/Weybridge Station, Weybridge 92 Church St, Weybridge
KT13 8UD KT13 8DL
T 01932 858585 T 01932 831122
A1 Cars Embassey Cars
49B Queens Rd, Weybridge 49B Queens Rd, Weybridge
KT13 9UQ KT13 9UQ
T 01932 830930 T 01932 842222
I regard this area as a very affluent area, with a high disposable income. The house prices here are far higher than the national average, and contained within Weybridge is St George’s Hill.
This has been dubbed one of the most expensive places in Britain to live, with nearly all houses being owned by rich business men in their late 50’s.
There is also a whole road which is nearly only inhabited by American’s. (Godolphin Road) The whole St George’s estate has a 24/7 security guard house, and most houses are fitted with gates in front of the houses.
“Ravenscroft Road in the St George's Hill estate is the 31st most expensive street in England and Wales. Houses in the road cost an average of £3.2m.”
mouseprice.com February 2007
“The Halifax ranked Weybridge as the most expensive town in Britain (2007) with average property prices slamming in at £543,064.”
timesonline.co.uk 28th December 2007
“Weybridge is highlighted (2007) as one of the top three most unaffordable places for key workers to buy property in the UK.”
aboutproperty.co.uk 13th April 2007
Objective 2 – The Local Area
To find out more specific information about the chosen area I have investigated .
Strengths and weaknesses of using this website to gather this information are…..
Population
Income
Socio-economic grouping
House Prices
Here I have devised a questionnaire, from which I am hoping to find out various pieces of information, via the primary way of collection, by standing in on a street, and asking the general public.
The type of data collection I will be using is random, as I think this will be the fairest way of collecting the data. This is because I will most likely be talking to the type of people who shop in these places, and if the majority of the shoppers are of a certain age or sex then using stratified sampling won’t give a good cross-section of the market, as I am leaving out the fact that most of the shoppers could be of one relatively homogeneous subgroup.
The number of questionnaire’s I will do is 30. I will then follow this up with an analysis of the result’s and then decide whether or not I will follow up with another group of questionnaire’s, or even a secondary questionnaire.
Hopefully I will gain a better picture of my market, and what they want, in order to better my business idea, and hopefully make it a successful venture. I believe that no-one knows better what they want than themselves, and even if I don’t agree with the results, the more information I have, the better informed a decision I can make.
Questionnaire
1.) What is your age group?
Under 16 16-21 21-35 35-50 50+
2.) Where do you live?
Walton Weybridge Hersham Byfleet Guildford Woking
Other _______
3.) What is the reason for your visit to Weybridge today?
Shopping Work Visiting Live there
Other _______
4.) How regularly do you listen to music?
Everyday Once every few days Once a week Never
5.) What music genres do you enjoy? Tick all that apply
Rock Rap Soul Dance 60’s 70’s 80’s Jazz Classical Pop
Metal Trance R&B Punk Acoustic Reggae Indie
World music Other ________
6.) Do you still buy CD’s or do you use other mediums to purchase music.
Purchasing from Store Download from iTunes etc. Internet
7.) Would you consider buying second hand CD/Records?
Yes No
8.) How much do you spend on music monthly?
£0-£10 £10-£30 £30-£50 £50+
9.) How far would you travel to visit a CD shop?
0-2 miles 2-5 miles 5-10 miles 10+ miles
10.) What CD stores do you usually shop at? Tick all that apply
HMV Virgin WHSmiths Supermarkets Other ____
11.) If there was a new CD/record shop in Weybridge, would you use it?
Definitely Not Probably Not Not Certain Probably Definitely
12.) For a CD/music shop, how important are the following?
1 = Lowest and 5 = Highest
- Knowledgeable staff 1 2 3 4 5
- Ordering-in service 1 2 3 4 5
- Rare records 1 2 3 4 5
- Second Hand CD’s 1 2 3 4 5
- Online store 1 2 3 4 5
- Ability to listen before you buy 1 2 3 4 5
- Customer’s being made aware of offer’s 1 2 3 4 5
- Memorabilia 1 2 3 4 5
Results and anaylse
Competition
HMV (U.K) Ltd
Units 40-42, The Peacocks Centre, Woking, Surrey GU21 6GD
Tel: 01483 228000
HMV is part of HMV Group plc, which are a massive company, listed on the London stock exchange since May 2002. It has stores across Europe, as well as North America and Asia Pacific. Since it’s opening in 1921, it has since established itself to be a benchmark for quality in the music retail. Key factor’s which have helped the company are innovation, merchandising, and the passionate commitment of its staff.
Its brand values of 'service, knowledge and range' lie at the heart of its position of market leader. HMV are constantly changing to meet their customer’s demands, such as providing an online store, as well as constantly changing their stock to meet the new music revolution. HMV is at where I want my business to be. They are leading the market, whilst still maintaining low prices, through brand loyalty and various offers’ to increase sales.
Langley Records
466, Walton Rd, West Molesey, Surrey KT8 2JG
Tel: 020 8979 3648
Langley Record’s is a small family run business, which stocks high price, rare records. Although this is a very specialist store, it holds its own in a very competitive market through the USP of having record’s which no other places have, so people will travel from greater distances to come to this store, just so they can get hold of “that one rare record.”
I am not really aiming to be a specialist shop, so this type of store should not really affect my business in a greater sense, for example as much as HMV would.
Banquet Records
52, Eden St, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 1EE
Tel: 020 8549 5871
Banquet Record’s, also known as beggar’s banquet, is a small shop, located just outside the main Kingston shopping complex. It is well known in the underground scene, stocking a large variety of different music genres. The main selling point that Banquet Record’s has is that each CD has a personal review written on the outside of it, written in pen by the owner of the store. This dedication ensures that staff working in the store have a vast knowledge of what they are talking about, as opposed to a student simply drafted in during his summer holidays. The staff are truly passionate about their music, and will be able to give opinions and recommendations for further listeners.
The knowledge which the staff possesses is something I want to tap into in my business, as I believe brand loyalty resides in how the customer is treated in store. The main problem with this store is that it doesn’t cater for the mass market, and so often if you want a chart topping single/CD it would be better to go to a more mass market shop such as HMV or even Tesco’s. They are also much more than just a record store. They put on club nights, gigs, and in stores, as well as running a label, having a digital site and doing PA hire. These are all things I need to keep in mind as selling points when running my business.
Zavvi
Units 21-22, The Heart Shopping Centre, Walton-On-Thames, Surrey KT12 1AD
Tel: 01932 269377
Zavvi, formerly known as Virgin Music, is also a large chain store, much like HMV. It is the UK’s largest independent entertainment retailer on the high street, and its focus is purely on the product offered and the service provided. Virgin re-branded to Zavvi after doing many different types of primary research, i.e. questionnaires and focus groups. The suggestions they were receiving from their costumers about changing the Virgin Media stores, ended up in the re-branding and revamping of their website. This shows me how important the website and internet part of the business is, and may be something I really need to focus on.
Another good USP which Zavvi hold is that of the direct to inbox recommendations, which basically means that the company sends recommendations of music and DVD etc direct to their phone’s or emails, without bombarding them. This is a great way to increase customer awareness of the ever changing stock of a big business like this.
Archive Records
21, Byron Rd, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2SJ
Tel: 01932 857776
Archive record’s is another specialist store in the near vicinity of where I want to open my business. They stock a large number of rare and difficult to get hold of vinyl’s but as well as this, they stock CD’s, cassettes, music memorabilia and also sheet music. They also have an order in service meaning they can take orders for record’s they do not have, and can source them from another location. This means that they have practically any record you want, as long as you have the time, and don’t want it there and then. One the main thing’s I want to get on top of in my business is the careful consideration of stock, as this can easily get out of hand, and I will be left with huge amounts of buffer stock, and the cost of holding it will greatly increase my direct cost’s.
Their slogan is “We LOVE our music, - do YOU?” This I think incorporates what I want my business to be like, as it implies that the staff are greatly knowledgeable about the particular subject. One thing I am planning to do is give each member of staff in my store a tag which has a particular style of music genre on it. This mean’s that if a customer is looking for information about a particular genre, they can go to a particular staff member who has greater experience in that genre.
WHSmiths
13-15, High St, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 8AX
Tel: 01932 852043
WHSmith is a different type of store to the other’s as it isn’t a music specific store. It is in fact a stationary store, which stocks a small selection of CD’s. The problem’s with this type of store is that variety is not really a main factor in the business. This type of business tries to cater for every sector of the market, meaning they have a greater customer database. This is not the ploy I am trying to go for, as I want to open a CD/Record Specific shop, which sells mainly CD’s and Record’s, but also stocks such things as memorabilia, i.e. T-shirt’s.
The benefits to WHSmith of running this small CD section of their store is that people shopping in WHSmith for other things, may see something they like there, and be tempted. This mean’s that shopper’s can come into the store looking for one thing, but come out with another. The obvious drawback is that their selection is miniscule, catering only for a small selection of the market. As I am hoping to open up a music specialist store, the small selection of music is not an option for me.
Tesco
117, Station Rd, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2AS
Tel: 0845 6778999
Tesco’s is a lot like WHSmith in respect to the fact that it is a convenience store, not a CD/Record store specifically. It is however far larger than WHSmith, and as such has a much bigger CD selection. This selection still does not compare to a CD specific shop, not in range nor variety. The main problem I think this business will pose to me is that it has a huge current customer database, and as such, massive brand loyalty. The prices of these CD’s are also fairly cheap, as the business can mass buy and therefore they gain economies of scale.
I will need to be offering a USP to the customer’s in order to break into Tesco’s customer database, and draw then away from their typical spending habits, in order to get them to start buying in my store.
Based on my research about my competition, I can infer that in Weybridge I would have a fairly strong position, not merely because there are no CD-specific store’s in the town but also because what I am offering is similar to what other successful chains in the business are, i.e. HMV and Zavvi. Although I am going along similar lines of these 2 companies, I am in no way copying their ideas. I will bring in my own USP to the business, differentiating from the current businesses, playing on their positives and expanding on their negatives.
The kind of USP I want to offer is that of knowledgeable staff, far greater than in other stores, with staff being willing to offer suggestions out of the blue and give helpful recommendations. This would be all pointless if the staff didn’t know about their particular subjects, so my idea about each member of staff being in-the-know about a specific genre of music would be implemented. This would mean a customer could go to a particular member of staff, knowing that they would really be passionate about what they are talking about and would really understand the subject.
Finish
Market Mapping
HMV (U.K) Ltd
Units 40-42, The Peacocks Centre, Woking, Surrey GU21 6GD
Langley Records
466, Walton Rd, West Molesey, Surrey KT8 2JG
Banquet Records
52, Eden St, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT1 1EE
Zavvi
Units 21-22, The Heart Shopping Centre, Walton-On-Thames, Surrey KT12 1AD
Archive Records
21, Byron Rd, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2SJ
WHSmiths
13-15, High St, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 8AX
Tesco
117, Station Rd, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2AS
Analyse
Political:
- Government type and stability
- Freedom of press, rule of law and levels of bureaucracy and corruption
- Regulation and de-regulation trends
- Social and employment legislation
- Tax policy, and trade and tariff controls
- Environmental and consumer-protection legislation
- Likely changes in the political environment
Economic:
- Stage of business cycle
- Current and project economic growth, inflation and interest rates
- Unemployment and labor supply
- Labor costs
- Levels of disposable income and income distribution
- Impact of globalization
- Likely impact of technological or other change on the economy
- Likely changes in the economic environment
Socio-Cultural:
- Population growth rate and age profile
- Population health, education and social mobility, and attitudes to these
- Population employment patterns, job market freedom and attitudes to work
- Press attitudes, public opinion, social attitudes and social taboos
- Lifestyle choices and attitudes to these
- Socio-Cultural changes
Technological Environment:
- Impact of emerging technologies
- Impact of Internet, reduction in communications costs and increased remote working
- Research and Development activity
- Impact of technology transfer
