How Various Aspects of Shopping Centres Change According to the Level of the Centre on the Shopping Hierarchy
1.1 Aim
The aim of my investigation is to discover how various aspects of
shopping centres change according to the level of the centre on the
shopping hierarchy.
1.2 Geographical Background
The shopping hierarchy is a classification used to differentiate
between shopping centres of varying sizes.
Pyramid Diagram
Figure A shows a shopping hierarchy. The higher a shopping centre's
position in the hierarchy pyramid, the greater the total number of
shops, the greater the range, more variety of shops/services and the
greater the sphere of influence of the centre.
In a geographical context, the term range refers to the distance
people are prepared to travel to use a shop or service, as an example,
a fish and chip shop would have a small range whereas a department
store would have a relatively larger range. Range is closely related
to the term threshold population. This means the minimum number of
customers required to keep a service in business.
The sphere of influence of a centre is the surrounding area served by
that specific centre, i.e. the area from which people visit that
centre as opposed to another centre.
When reviewing shopping centres geographers often distinguish goods
and services into two categories of land use:
1. Low order or convenience. This is a god or service that w use or
need everyday. They ten to be staples of life for which we are not
prepared to travel very far nor pay very much for.
2. High order or comparison. This is a good or service we do not need
or buy everyday. They tend to be more expensive luxurious items for
which we are prepared to travel further distances and pay more money
to purchase.
1.3 Variables and Predictions
A comprehensive study of the shpping hierarchy is beyond the scope
ofthis investigation as there are so many variables to consider at
various levels of the shopping hierarchy and care must be taken to
In a world ran by money, Paco Underhill has discovered a way for stores to generate a larger profit. In “The Science of Shopping”, Malcolm Gladwell reports on retail anthropologists to examine their theories they use. Gladwell does this to inform store managers on how to set up their stores to maximize their profits. Paco Underhill has shopping down to a science. Inside American Eagle, Meijer and Hollister his theories of the decompression zone, invariant right, and zoning can be found.
The Great Success of Out of Town Shopping Centres Out of town shopping centres such as Meadowhall are very recent creations and did not exist 20 years ago. These shopping centres are usually built near main roads such as motorways as they are easy to access. Shopping centres such as Meadowhall are either built on Greenfield (building on farmland) or Brownfield (building on derelict industrial land) sites as the land is cheap and there is plenty of space for future expansion and car parking. As the land is cheap it allows individual shops to use large areas of floor space.
Classification of retail stores have corresponded in many procedures, and over the years, the retail stores have changed to correspond to the fluctuating
The retail industry is as old as human civilizations, and it’s worth noting the retail sector is much better geared to change than most sectors. Over the past couple of decades there has been a wide range of changes in the retailing business. The retail sector dates back to the early 1800’s when the first local corner store sold common household items and basic groceries. As its name states, the corner store was just that, stores strategically placed on corners on high foot traffic areas for easy access. As society started to grow so did the need for new consumer goods and how a consumer would reach those goods. Department stores became popular simply because they were able to offer an assortment of categories and a variety of items within those categories all under one roof. The first two cities to start developing large scale department stores were New York City, and Chicago. In New York in 1846, the first building was built offering a variety of goods at fixed prices that were shipped from Europe. Department stores moved away from the idea of bartering and all items sold were considered fixed. However, department stores did offer discounts and coupons as a way to get customers in the door. In 1862, the largest department store was built during this time in New York City. The department store was on a full city block with eight floors and nineteen departments of dress goods, furnishing materials, carpets, fine china, toys and sports equipment. All these items were arranged around a central glass-covered court. The glass windows quickly became a staple in the department stores design. The act of window shopping was introduced and quickly all department stores had floor to ceiling windows advertising the newes...
Retail stores consider many factors when designing the store to assist with maximizing the experience that the customer will encounter. The average customer has no idea that the store places such amount of thought into the setup and design layout. Everything from the merchandise displays to the locations of certain departments are designed to increase the revenue and success of the store. The target market for the retail store is classified as the type of customer that will contribute to the success and can evolve over time if the store is experiencing difficult times. The ability to be fluid in decision-making is required because change is constant with any customer driven business. The majority of retail customers desire the convenience of knowing that they are getting their money’s
Restriction on Business Hours and compulsory closedown in Superstores based on Distribution Industry Development Act Article 12(2)
These aspects are considered features of the sector. It is mentioned that the purchasing power of retailing industry is focused on the side of small retail purchasers. In a flat market with difficult growth along with the consumers being sophisticated, large retail chains such as Tesco are acquiring large number of consumer information for communication with consumers. Such type of competitive market has fostered such accelerated level of development leading to the situation in which grocery retailers of the United Kingdom are required to reflect innovation in their strategies while maintaining and establishing their market share. Such innovative strategies can be observed in the development of a wide range of trading formats due to changes in consumer behaviour. The dominant leaders in the market have responded after focusing on the price and value while highlighting the additional valued elements in their services (Ndungu,
All these goods on it described are entertaining us, are helping us, are making the life easier,
Goss argues that developers and designers of the built environment, specifically shopping centers and malls, use the power of place and understanding the structural layout of the space to boost consumption of the retail profits. Shopping centers are separated from the downtown area of shopping either by distance and/or design. These establishments emerge for many to be the new heart and location for public and social life. In his article The "Magic of the Mall": An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment, Goss also argues that the regulation of the spaces within the mall creates an atmosphere of "community" rather than one that is "public".
...act, Langham Place is not alone. There are more and more shopping mall operates their business in the same manner as Langham Place. Though these shopping centres tried to make breakthrough using different methods, it seems that impressions of these shopping malls are blurred in eyes of public. Since these shopping malls are usually invested by large-scaled enterprises with great powers, merchants without resources to apply different tactics like these large-scaled shopping mall, will one day be eliminated. Those survivors will become copies of one another. As Shoppers' Paradise famous for selling products with different characteristics, if similar shopping malls are seen everywhere and merchants with distinguishing feature disappears, Hong Kong will soon lose its competitiveness among tourists. Resent among society may also arise and raise different social problems.
When looking at the general attitude of shoppers toward each of the three shopping areas, several important facts are needed to prepare the results. The average response or mean, the size of the sample of our population and clarification on the level of confidence acceptable to the end user of the survey all cont...
... middle of paper ... ... This is when you as a business start to listen more to the customer than talk about your product, as a business they would need to do what the customer thinks is best. Gunelius, Susan.
For example, the first change that takes place in Tiger stores is a material possession change which is the items being sold to customers which is an exchange of possession of the goods involved. This can be seen in the quote ‘doesn’t sell large items, only things that can be carried away.’ Wilson, A. (2013). Furthermore, another transformation that takes place within Tiger stores is a psychological customer change, this is essentially staff providing customer service which is show in the quote ‘offer a pleasant experience. Wilson, A. (2013). Wilson, A. (2013) states that Tiger’s customers are ‘impulse shoppers’ and that they ‘come in for a look around but end up filling their baskets’. This shows another change that takes place within Tiger stores which is a customer location change as customers are moving around the store, browsing for items they need/want. One transformation change that doesn’t take place within a physical store is an information location change, this is the research that looks at other potential locations for new stores. Wilson, A. (2013) states that location is ‘critical to success’ as Tiger need a ‘high volume of people to buy low cost goods’ in order to be successful and make a profit, therefore location is
On the other hand, most factors prove otherwise. The retail industry does not have high Economies of Scale to be exploited in general . Yet, it is impossible to run department stores like Metro on a small scale . A large retail space, inventory, and warehouse are necessary to host a specialized portfolio of brands and products to better attract both customers and suppliers. Heavy capital requirements and operational expen...
Places such as coffee shops and lounges have been included in the structures of these malls to give consumers a more comfortable feeling of relaxation. Instead of shopping and leaving people are more enticed to sit back and relax. Enjoying a meal and a cup of coffee while shopping has become a time consuming yet enjoyable process for most shoppers. It's suggested that the longer a person stays the more money they are bound to spend. Mall managers and scientist are not attempting to manipulate the consumer but more so enhance their shopping experience. There's also a sense of creativity and connectivity found in calming environments such as coffee shops that establishments like shopping malls are trying to bring to the shopping