If the realisation that Christmas is just around the corner has not yet set in, help is close at hand. The Newspaper Advertising Bureau's (NAB) Roots 007 survey into individual suburbs, the shopping centres servicing these areas and the needs of PDMs spending their disposable income in these centres is invaluable information that owners and managers cannot afford to do without.
Whether or not your retail complex is considered one of the top five shopping destinations in a particular suburb, what the ‘real' target market of the centre is and what PDMs have been buying or recently looking for will determine whether you need to order extra stock this festive season. “All of these aspects play a key role in the success of a business, especially one dealing in fast moving consumer goods,” says John Bowles, the Joint Managing Director of NAB.
Roots 007 highlights Somerset West's top five shopping destinations as Somerset Mall (86%), Waterstone Mall (45%), Shoprite/Checkers Centre (28%), Pick ‘n Pay Centre (22%) and The Circle (21%). “Of the PDMs living in the area, 84% are white and 60% use Afrikaans as a first language,” Bowles explains. The average monthly household income is R18 900. Rustenburg's demographics are quite similar and indicate that 71% of the area's PDMs are white and 62% speak Afrikaans, while the average monthly income is R15 400. The top three shopping malls in Rustenburg are the Waterfall Mall (71%), Rustenburg Square (36%) and the Rustenburg Plaza (33%).
The Cape's Southern Seaboard statistics show a 57% white and a 30% coloured population. Within these demographics, 86% of PDMs speak English and the average monthly household income is R15 800. Cavendish Square (37%) is the top shopping destination in the area, followed by Canal Walk and Century City (31%), the V & A Waterfront and Victoria Wharf (28%), Kenilworth Centre (24%) and the Blue Route Mall (21%).
“If you have positioned yourself in Pietermaritzburg, you will be talking to a totally different market.” Bowles explains that while 78% of these residents speak English, the area is populated by the Indian community (46%) and then Black PDMs (27%). The top three shopping destinations include Midlands Mall (56%), Northway Mall (25%) and Pietermaritzburg Central (24%).
When comparing shopping centres visited by PDMs, living in Johannesburg, within a specific three month period, Roots 007 indicates that East Rand Mall benefited with the highest number of PDMs (206, 558) passing through its doors. Cresta was second with 189,624 PDMs spending their disposable income at the various retail outlets and Eastgate was third with 163,550 shoppers.
The PDMs visiting Johannesburg Shopping Centres were largely between the age of 16 and 34, The Pavilion showed most of its spenders between the ages of 35 and 49, while most of Green Acres shoppers are 50 plus. “These statistics prove how critical it is for retailers to know their target markets and how they differ geographically, before deciding on the location in which to base their store. Once you have set up shop, getting to know who exactly your shopper is within your catchment area will ultimately define your success or failure. Roots has been designed to assist businesses in getting to know South Africa's multi-layered urban landscape,” says Bowles.
For more information on the Roots 007 survey, contact John Bowles at .
