People from the North West prefer to shop in their nearest city or town centre ahead of other retail locations, according to the latest research from leading property consultancy Colliers International.
Colliers commissioned YouGov to track the shopping habits and preferences among more than 3,000 UK shoppers aged “18 to 80”, 371 of which were from the North West of England.
Carried out as part of the firm’s annual Midsummer Retail Report, the research asked people to name their preferred shopping environment.
Results showed that most shoppers in the North West (40 per cent) found their closest town or city centre to be ‘appealing’ for shopping when compared to their local high street (36 per cent), closest indoor shopping centre (35 per cent), large out-of-town shopping centre (25 per cent) or retail park (38 per cent).
David Fox, head of retail agency North at Colliers International, said: “Our research shows that the nearest town or city centre was most likely to provide what people wanted in terms of the overall shopping and leisure experience, albeit with many of our shoppers also visiting other types of retail centres regularly to meet their buying requirements.”
Other shopping habits and preferences found from North West respondents to the survey, included:
- 64 per cent wanted to see more local independent retailers on their local high street while 48 per cent sought more independent restaurants and cafes
- The most popular products bought both online are clothes, books and home appliances/electronics with the most popular purchased in-store being groceries/food shopping, clothes and home appliances/electronics
- 40 per cent said they used their mobile phone or tablet to further research a product they were thinking of buying online whilst out shopping and 40 per cent did so to compare in-store prices to those online
- 43 per cent said they never used their mobile or tablet when out shopping
- 61 per cent said being able to see or test a product before buying is the major reason for visiting a shop in person rather than buying online
- Online brands that they would most like to have a presence on the local high street were Amazon (29 per cent), Asos (23 per cent) and Boohoo.com (16 per cent)
- 73 per cent were happy to wait longer for an online purchase if it meant they paid less
- 73 per cent don’t currently do their grocery shopping online but 63 per cent said that free delivery would make shopping online for groceries more appealing
- 54 per cent of respondents in the North West would pay more for a product with proven ethical/environmental credentials but 46 per cent would not
David added: “Despite the plethora of headlines about bricks and mortar retailers struggling while those online see sales soar, it would appear that those operators offering the right product at the right price in physical stores continue to provide a core and popular element of the total shopping experience in the North West of England and elsewhere.”
Matthew Thompson, Head of Retail Strategy, Colliers International, added: “The research – of which these findings are just a snapshot – has provided fascinating insights into shopper attitudes and how they are likely to influence the retail sector over time.
“Of course, our attitudes change depending on our ‘age and stage’ but this illustrates that successful retailing is very much a moving target which we all must track.”
