To prove that out of town shopping is becoming increasingly popular with shoppers, and that it can compete with existing shops in the town centre.

MAIN SHOPPING CENTRES

These are some of the main shopping centres in Britain

Out of town shopping centres have many different shops that sell wide ranges of goods. The figures below are the goods that are sold at the Medowhall shopping centre in Sheffield and how many units each type of goods has.

The shopping centre that I will use in my project will be the Bescot shopping centre. I have chosen this because of its proximity to where I live. In this study I will be looking for evidence of the increasing popularity of out of town shopping. I will be looking at reasons why people want to visit these shopping centres by asking questions to a number of people.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Description:

The timing is important when doing questionnaire because at different times there are different types and numbers of people visiting the shopping centre. For example, in a particular shop in the shopping centre there is a sale on all baby goods, this would result in more young women with babies visiting the shopping centre

Also the location of the survey is important, as different people will visit different shops so that if the survey were centred around one shop only there would be not be a wide proportion of results. E.g. if the survey were centred around a baby clothes shop then teenagers and older people would not be fairly represented.

Here are the questions that will be asked:

1. Age?

15+        20+        30+        40+        50+        60+        70+

This question will be used so that we can tell from the data what type of person is visiting the centre at what time.

2. Sex?

Male                  Female

This question will also help to find what the average proportion of male and female is.

3. Area?

All different areas of Walsall (mainly)

This question allows us to find out where the majority of people come from and how far people are willing to come to shop at this shopping centre.

4. Transport?

Walk                Car                Bus                Other

This question will find out what is the favourite form of transport used to get to the shopping centre.

5. What shop do you visit?

JJB           Sports Division         Matalan     Halfords    Comet   McDonalds          Carpet Right     Textile World    Farmfoods    Moben    Pets at Home

6. Time spent at the shopping centre

15-30min                        30min-1hr                     1-2hr                    2hr+

This question will show how long people stay at shopping centres and will show how popular the shopping centre as a whole is.

Predictions:

1. Age

I predict that the majority of shopper’s age group will be different on varying days of the week. I think that on weekends there are mostly young families and teenagers shopping as this can be there only chance to shop in the whole week. During the week there will be more different mixes of shopping group with hardly any children or teenagers at all as they are in school.

2. Sex

The overall number of shoppers at any time or day will be a woman. This is due to many factors such as during the week this can be their only chance to do any shopping as the children are at school. Also generally the woman in a family does the majority of shopping such as food and clothes shopping for the children

3. Area

I predict that most shoppers will come from the areas around the Bescot Retail Park and not come from anywhere further that 10 miles radius. I think the majority of people will come from the Pleck and Bescot areas as these are the closest areas to the Retail Park.

4. What shops do you visit

I think that Matalan will be the most popular shop as it sells clothes for all ages and sizes at affordable prices. This will be popular with young families and women. The other popular shops will be the sports clothing stores, JJB and Sports Division.

5. Time spent in shopping centre

On average I predict most people will spend 1-2 hours shopping because there are many different stores that appeal to all kinds of people. On average it takes 30 minutes to browse in a store and if 2 stores are visited then it takes about a hour.

6. Transport

The most common form of transport will be the car because most families nowadays own at least one car and the easiest way of getting to the shopping centre is by car. Also the car parking is free so people will think it is better than parking in the town centre for example. I also predict that walking will be the next most popular form of transport, as the locals do not need to get to the Retail Park by car.

For Tuesday 4:00pm

1. Age:                                        5) Time:

15-                Total 7        28 %                15-30 min        Total 10        40 %

15-20        Total 7        28 %                30 min-1 hr        Total 5        20 %

20+                Total 4        16 %                1-2 hrs        Total 8        32 %

30+                Total 3        12 %                2 hrs +        Total 2        8 %

40+                Total 1        4 %

50+                Total 1        4 %                6) Transport:

60+                Total 2        8 %                Walk                Total 8        32 %

70+                Total 0        0 %                Bus                Total 5        20 %

                                                Car                Total 11        44 %

2. Sex                                        Taxi                Total 1        4 %

Male                Total 9        36 %

Female         Total 16        64 %

3. Area:

Caldmore                Total 3        12 %

Delves                Total 1        4 %

Palfrey                Total 4        16 %

Pleck                        Total 2        8 %

Highgate                Total 2        8 %

Bescot                Total 6        24 %

Park Hall                Total 1        4 %

Chuckery                Total 1        4 %

Birchills                Total 2        8 %

Pelsall                Total 1        4 %

Wednesbury        Total 1        4 %

Rushall                Total 1        4 %

4. Shops:

JJB                        Total 8        9.1 %

Sports Division        Total 9        10.2 %

Matalan                Total 14        15.9 %

Halfords                Total 3        3.4 %

Comet                Total 10        11.4 %

McDonalds                Total 14        15.9 %

Carpet Right                Total 4         4.5 %

Pets at Home        Total 4        4.5 %

Moben                Total 2        2.4%

Textile World        Total 4        4.5 %

Farmfoods                Total 16        18.2 %

For Saturday 5:30pm

1. Age:                                        5) Time:

15-                Total 3        12 %                15-30 min        Total 4        16 %

15-20        Total 9        36 %                30 min-1 hr        Total 11        44 %

20+                Total 4        16 %                1-2 hrs        Total 8        32 %

30+                Total 3        12 %                2 hrs +        Total 2        8 %

40+                Total 4        16 %                

50+                Total 2        8 %                6) Transport:

60+                Total 0        0 %                Walk                Total 6        24 %

70+                Total 0        0 %                Bus                Total 8        32

                                                Car                Total 11        44 %

2. Sex                                        Taxi                Total 0        0 %

Male                Total 13        52 %

Female         Total 12        48 %

3. Area:

Caldmore                Total 5        20 %

Delves                Total 4        16 %

Palfrey                Total 3        12 %

Pleck                        Total 2        8 %

Highgate                Total 2        8 %

Bescot                Total 5        20 %

Park Hall                Total 2        8 %

Chuckery                Total 1        4 %

Birchills                Total 0        0 %

Pelsall                Total 0        0 %

Wednesbury        Total 1        4 %

Rushall                Total 0        4 %

4. Shops:

JJB                        Total 11        13.9 %

Sports Division        Total 11        13.9 %

Matalan                Total 12        15.2 %

Halfords                Total 9        11.4%

Comet                Total 10        12.7 %

McDonalds                Total 9        11.4 %

Carpet Right                Total 2         2.8 %

Pets at Home        Total 1        1.4 %

Moben                Total 3        4.2 %

Textile World        Total 2        2.8 %

Farmfoods                Total 9        11.4 %

Results Analysis: Tuesday 4:00pm

1) Age:

The results show that 56% of people questioned were under 20 years old, this may have been because schools have just dismissed their pupils and there are 2 schools in a close proximity to the shopping centre, Joseph Leckie Comprehensive and Wood Green Comprehensive.

2) Sex:

The main gender of people questioned were females making up 64% of the total. This may have been because during the day more females are shopping because they may not be working, as I predicted.

3) Area:

Caldmore (12%), Palfrey (16%) and Bescot (24%) made up the majority of responses because they are so close to the shopping centre with Bescot being closest, Palfrey being second and Caldmore being furthest.

4) Shops:

The most popular shop was Farmfoods with 18.9%, this may have been because the questionnaire was carried out during the day, where more females are around, whom usually do the shopping in the household. The next most popular shop was Matalan with 15.9% along with McDonalds which got the same. Matalan always was going to be popular as I pointed out in my prediction; it sells a wide range of clothes for all ages and is good value. McDonalds may have been so popular because there were quite a number of young people in the shopping centre, because of the end of school, and McDonalds is quite popular with young people.

5) Time:

The majority of shoppers spent 15 minutes- 30 hour shopping (40%). This may have been down to the fact that many people would be heading home after getting out of school and because they may need to go to collect children from school.

6) Transport:

The most popular form of transport was the car with 44%, which is no surprise as most households have 1 car and car parking is free, as I explained in my prediction. The reason it was not any higher may have been because there was a large amount of young people in the shopping centre.

Results Analysis: Saturday 5:30pm

1) Age:

Once again under 20’s made up the majority of people questioned (46%), probably because there is no school on a Saturday and this can be their only chance to shop. Also there are shops that appeal to young people, JJB and Sports Division for example, as I predicted.

2) Sex:

The main gender of people questioned were males making up 52% of the total. This was about an even split between male and female. This may have been because during the day more families are shopping together because they may not be working.

3) Area:

Bescot and Caldmore made up the highest response results with 20% each. This may be because of their close proximity to the retail park.

4) Shops:

Matalan came second with 15.2%; this is because this it is a popular shop that caters for all the family, Saturday is traditionally the family shopping day, and it is relatively cheap. JJB and Sports Division came in joint second with 13.9 each, there were a number of young people in the   retail park and these two shops cater mostly for the younger people. Comet came in third with 12.7%, this may have been since this store sells white goods which are needed by many people. Halfords came in fourth with 11.4%, there were quite a few young people that owned cars and they are more ‘in’ to their cars than older people.

 

5) Time:

The majority of shoppers spent 15 minutes- 30 hour shopping (44%). This may have been down to the fact that many people would be heading home after getting out of school and because they may need to go to collect children from school.

6) Transport:

The most popular form of transport was the car with 44%, which is no surprise as most households have 1 car and car parking is free, as I explained in my prediction. Bus came second with 32%, this may have been because 40% of people surveyed came from a area close to the shopping centre.

CAR COUNT

This can gives indication of the popularity of the shopping centre. If a timed sample is taken and repeated then an average can be taken for a certain day. The number of cars going in and going out can be counted.

I will count cars in increments of 15 minutes.

Tuesday

 4.15-30 pm:                

Going in- 60 cars                Difference: + 48

Going out- 12 cars        

 4:30-45 pm:                

Going in- 45                Difference: + 20

Going out- 20                

4:45-5:00 pm:                

Going in- 29                Difference: + 4

Going out- 25

Average:

Going in- 45                Difference: + 26

Going out- 19

The traffic coming in began to fizzle out from a high of 60 down to a low of 29, this happened gradually form the first segment going down to the third segment. As cars coming in went down cars leaving increased as people were going home as time became later.

Saturday

3:00-15 pm:

Going in- 78                Difference: + 58

Going out- 20

3:15-30 pm:

Going in- 84                Difference: + 53

Going out- 31

3:30-45 pm:

Going in: 81                Difference: + 52

Going out: 29

Average:

Going in- 81                Difference: + 54

Going out- 27

The traffic too and from the shopping centre was quite busy as the count was conducted on a Saturday which is always busy. The traffic remained steady.

EVALUATION

I set out to prove that out of town shopping was becoming increasingly popular with shoppers and that it is competing with existing shops in the town centre. I believe that I did prove this to extent. Out of town shopping is becoming the number one choice for many people to shop at, the sheer numbers of people visiting showing this.

There are many reasons for this; most these being small things, but once added together make out of town shopping centres a strong opponent to town centres. For example, parking. A family with children visits the town centre to do some shopping and they are forced either to spend money to park at a car park, which can take a long time itself when looking for free spaces, or spend half an hour or so trying to find a free parking space on the roads leading into the own centre. But in an out of town shopping centre the same family will be able to find a parking space in minutes in the vast car parks and not have to pay a penny.

The data I collected from the shopping centre, from the car counts I did, showed that there was a high amount of traffic to and from the shopping centre means the leaving customers are always being replaced by new customers. The surveys showed that the gender fitted in with the trends of the town centre, more females during the week and an even split during the weekend. The survey also showed that the shopping centre catered for all ages and so was visited by all age groups. The question about where people came from was the quite enlightening; the majority of shoppers came from areas that were close to the shopping centre, this may have been because of other shopping centres and because of the distance involved. Most people did come by cars showing that the free parking was a factor in the popularity of the shopping centre

My investigation did everything that I thought it would, it helped me to find how popular Besot shopping centre is.

I found my Car count to be the most useful piece of data and the question about what shops the respondent would visit to be least useful.

Information about why people were visiting the shopping centre would have been useful as would have been information about if people preferred shopping centres to town centres. I could do another survey including questions about the above useful information. I also would do more surveys and car counts at other out of town shopping centres.

The way my data was collected was limited because the surveys were carried out one at a time so there was not a true representation of the people visiting the shopping centre.

‘Town Centres Fighting Back.’

(See Newspaper Article and Map of town Centre)

Since I began my study the following news story appeared in a local paper. The story is about an analyst company that has published a report that predicts that the town centre shops are going to go into a period of shortfall if the town centre isn’t ‘regenerated’. They are blaming this on the Walsall Council and on how in the past they have given out of town shopping centres planning permission. The company is suggesting that the council should not allow any more shopping centres to be built. It is likely that the council will take this suggestion on board, as there is a new shopping centre development being made in the town centre at the moment.