Shopping centre customers live close to home says NAB

“Retailers must get to grips with the community in which they operate,” says John Bowles, NAB Joint Managing Director.

As a result, Pretoria- and Johannesburg-based shopping centres that previously drew customers from the outer Gauteng regions have seen a definite decrease in foot traffic from those areas. When analysing NAB's Roots 007 survey statistics, it is clear that PDMs (shoppers) from four of the main metropolitan centres in Mpumalanga including Nelspruit, Middleburg, Ermelo and Bethal/Secunda with an average personal income of R7,500 a month have money to spend on shopping. Bowles explains that the greatest percentage of their shopping is done locally.

In a sample of 300 households, representing 9,000 Nelspruit PDMs, 70% shop at Riverside Mall. This is followed by The Crossing (56%), Sonpark (31%), Belladonna (21%), The Village (14%) and the Nedbank Centre (13%). Of Ermelo's 23,500 PDMs, 49% shop at the Game Centre, 48% at the Pick n Pay centre, 45% at the Gensec/Sanlam Centre, 31% at Kerk Straat and 20% at the Palm Trees Centre.

Middleburg sees 12,200 PDMs spending their disposable income at the Checkers and Pick n Pay Centres (67%), the Shoprite Centre (54%), the Oaks Centre (41%), the Nedbank Centre (40%) and the Wonderpark Centre (30%). In Bethal/Secunda, a massive 55% of its 26,200 PDMs support the Secunda Plaza, while 53% shop in the Secunda CBD. This is followed by 42% who make use of the Senecta Shopping Centre and 36% of the OK Mall and Bethal CBD.

While past trends saw over 60% of these PDMs travelling to Johannesburg and/or Pretoria at least every 6 to 12 months or more to shop, recent shopping complex developments in the Witbank and Middleburg areas, including that of the Highveld Plaza, have ensured good retail destinations within their own area. “As a result, these shoppers can now enjoy the luxury of a qualitative mall on their doorstep. So why would they need to travel to the East Rand or Tshwane anymore?” asks Bowles.

Pretoria-based centres including Menlyn and the Kolonade will now have to ensure an even greater focus on their own catchment area, as they will see a decline in out-of-town shoppers from other areas. When delving into Menlyn's statistics, Roots 007 indicates that approximately 5,600 of the PDMs from the four main Mpumalanga metros previously spent their disposable income at these centres within a given three-month period. “Their average personal monthly income is R9,000 and as a group they are worth a whopping R50 million spend per month. This will now be spent back home in their own communities instead,” adds Bowles.

“Roots 007 has again emphasised the urgent need for retailers to get to grips with the community in which they operate. Understanding the local dynamics from where they draw their customers is extremely important, as is utilising the medium of community newspapers in their catchment area to draw consumers. Reaching the maximum number of your likely customers all the time is a gigantic step in the right direction if you're looking to increase sales,” he concludes.