Research Methodology
In order to produce a detailed report two types of research methods took place:
- Primary Research (Field)
- Secondary Research (Desk).
Primary Research is when you go out and gather the information yourself which will be up to date and accurate. You can trust and rely on this piece of information. The disadvantage is that collecting the information can be quite time consuming or it can be expensive.
Secondary Research is when you find the information on the Internet or from books. The advantages of this are that it’s unlimited, valid, cheap and also quick and easy to gather. The disadvantages of secondary research is that it could be out of date, cannot be trusted and you can get a lot of irrelevant information.
To collect the information that I needed to come to a conclusion about whether or not there is room to open up another business, I went out to Chorlton to get some answers for my questionnaire (a copy of the questionnaire can be found in the appendix) and to find out what type of shop is missing and if there is any room to open up a new business. I also had to find out what the competition was like in Chorlton so I produced a shopping classification table to show all the shops in Chorlton. (See appendix for a copy of the shopping classification table).
On my field visit 28 interviewees were questioned about their shopping habits:
Which shops they visit most frequently, how often they come to Chorlton and what type of business they think is missing?
The sampling method that I used was not very bias in gender because by looking at the data capture form I found out that the number of males and females questioned was very close as you can see in the table below:
I asked the respondents at a random selection to make sure I didn’t have a biased sample. The advantages of random selection is that there’s an equal chance of being chosen and it also prevents us from choosing a bias sample of people of whom we want to approach or who we think look approachable.
The disadvantages of random selection is that it can be generalised to the population and you might pick more than one type of gender e.g. 21 males and 4 females.
In future I would have used a different sampling method to give me a more accurate and reliable source/response to actually give a recommendation.
I would have used a stratified sampling method towards age and gender or ethnicity (if applicable) living in the area. I could use the Manchester Census to do this as it will give me an accurate set of results.
Results
Looking at my questionnaire I have found out that the two types of shops mostly wanted were i.e. Shoe shop & nothing. The majority of the respondents wanted a shoe shop. The table below shows the results:
By looking at the summarised shopping classification table I have found out that there are enough vacant premises to open up a new business. I, as well as the majority of the interviewees would recommend you to open up a shoe shop because in Chorlton there’s only one other shoe shop, which you will be competing with-Shoe Tree. On the other hand, if you decide to open up a café you will be competing with at least 10 others.
Summary of shopping classification table
Conclusions and Recommendations
From analysing my results the 2nd highest group of interviewees were quite content with the facilities available in the Chorlton, implying no need for a new business. My highest number of interviewees wished for a shoe shop. Most of this group of people were between the ages 31-40. This group of people are most likely to be in an employment and would need quality goods. I therefore recommend you to open up a shoe shop with high quality merchandise suited to this age range. This type of business is an ideal market orientated service with more chance of success.
A table to show the age ranges
My 1st choice of where the shop should be located will be in sector C in the empty premises 36 and 38, followed by the location of shop numbers 37 and 41 in sector B.
I would mostly recommend the empty premises 36 or 38 in sector C because all the shops in this sector are in a row of shops, and as such, are likely to draw many more shoppers’ attention to the location.
I would not recommend the area in which units number 6 or 7 are, as this area is not in a general shopping area and are more like industrial units and hence are unsuitable for retail outlet. Shop number 37 and 41 are my 2nd option as this is opposite the Chorlton Precinct.
Shoe Trees merchandise is mainly low cost products ideal for school shoes and youngsters. I would recommend a shoe shop that would cater for people of an up-market for both genders and all ages.
Evaluation
I carried out my field research on a Monday morning during 10:00-12:00. To get more market research I would have preferred to go on a Saturday afternoon whilst there are more shoppers in the area and I could get a wider range of opinions as I mainly got opinions from an older age category and not many from school students, which leads to a bias response. In the time limit I had, I questioned 28 shoppers in Chorlton, but if I were to go on a Saturday I would have tried to ask at least 100 customers. I would have tried to find out whether or not the customers are willing to spend a lot of money on expensive goods and if they would like to see an up market shoe shop in Chorlrton. As Shoe Tree is targeted at a different sector of the market the prices are irrelevant because quality comes at a higher price.
From looking at the questionnaire I have found out that the most important questions were as follows:
- How long does it take you to get to Chorlton?
- How often do you come?
- What time of day do you come to Chorlton?
- What type of business do you think is missing?
I also had some irrelevant questions that were asked, which in future could be left out:
- Why do you come to Chorlton?
- How long have you been shopping in Chorlton?
If I was to go out to Chorlton again I would ask the following questions which could have helped me in the results and recommendations.
- Are you willing to spend a lot of money on expensive goods?
- Would you like to see an up market shoe shop in Chorlton?
Analysis of Results
The graph above shows that the ages of the respondents was bias because I had very few responses from 16-20 year olds. Most of the group of people were between the ages 31-40, out of these 8 interviewees there was an equal amount of males and females.
To make sure we asked shoppers in all Chorlton we split it up into 4 sections A, B, C and D. I was questioning the shoppers in section B. The graphs above show all the different types of businesses in Chorlton. The following table summarises the graphs to show all the different types of businesses in the 4 sections of Chorlton.
