24 ANNIVERSARY


Understanding the science of spending


Is shopping an art or a science? asks Sean Kelly as he looks at changing patterns in consumer behaviour over the past 20 years


I


t can be argued that the process of separating cash from customers is an art that requires an element of science. But whatever camp you fall into one thing is clear – attracting


consumer spend requires even more skill than ever these days, according to retail experts. Spending patterns have altered considerably over the past 20 years


in part due to changes in demographics and the wider economy and in part due to the rise of technology along with the increase in leisure opportunities, online retailing and other avenues of attraction. Who would have thought five or ten years ago that Borders would shutter its doors or that Woolworths would go into administration? Some of those changes have been reflected in the 650-item


‘basket of service and retail goods’ used by the Office of National Statistics for the Retail Price Index. Prerecorded videotapes had been in the basked from 1991 (when Shopping Centre launched) until 2007. By 2001 the ONS basket included French sticks, baseball caps and mini- disc players (at the cost of jigsaw puzzles, bread bins and leeks). Even today mobile phone applications and women’s high heeled shoes and dating agency fees have been added while vending machine cigarettes, pork shoulder, and women’s sensible shoes have been dropped. Andrew McCall, MD of research company ROI Team, says that


throughout the years and changes, the imperative has been to understand who the customer is and what he or she wants as well as what drives them to a product or a place and what makes them return. “For the shopper and the retailer it’s an ever-changing world,” he


says. “Today what we are seeing is that shoppers are having to work very hard to square the circle to find good value. They have been spending the same as they did month by month but they are spending it over more trips and more centres and they are using their cars less and resorting to buses and walking. That’s prompting them to make shorter trips. There is no longer any embarrassment for anybody to shop at value stores. Now it is seen as canny and clever.” “What I find interesting about this whole emotional (art) v rational (science) debate is how the shopper mindset seems to be changing in regards to impulse purchasing – which you could argue was once the ultimate expression of emotional shopping,” says Susie Spencer, director at retailer and shopper research specialist Shoppercentric. “We recently did a report on impulse shopping and found that even in these times of cautious spending unplanned purchasing seems to be as prevalent as ever. While the days of frivolous shopping may be over for many impulse is not dead. “These days impulse is seen to be more about opportunism – that


chance to get a great bargain, spotting a product at a fantastic price,” adds Spencer, who is a former head of research at Marks & Spencer. “But the emotional reward of the final purchase is as strong as ever. The kick of being a smart, savvy shopper seems to be replacing reckless indulgence and the “live for the moment” mindset that once epitomised impulse shopping.” In an ideal world retailers would like to think of their customers as reliable, loyal and regular spenders. In reality, however, it may be the


September 2003


October 2003


October 2003


January 2003


foodcourt reopened after an £8m refurbishment.


Meadowhall’s Oasis


£45m retail development in Loughborough, The Rushes, opened.


SHOPPING CENTRE August 2011 www.shopping-centre.co.uk


Metrobrook Highland’s


645,000 sq ft Castlepoint shopping park opened.


Bournemouth’s


Construction started on the 230,000 sq ft Orchard Centre in Didcot.


20 YEARS Leading the industry for


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