ROOTS 2010 shows convenience counts

"What this means," says John Bowles, joint MD of NAB, "Is that all consumers regardless of their race or where they live, shop as close to home as possible, due to time constraints and the need for convenience - it's really quite logical when you take a step back and consider your own behaviour."

With a sample of 25 000 purchase decision makers (PDMs) who were interviewed by TNS Research Surveys across urban South Africa, the results can't be debated too much. The real question advertisers were interested in was that of the 'emerging markets' like Soweto and understanding their buyer behaviour. The results were very interesting.

Buying patterns change

When dissecting ROOTS the nine researched suburban areas in Soweto consisted of 100% black PDMs. In 2007, prior to the opening of Maponya Mall, Jabulani Mall and various other shopping centres in Soweto, ROOTS 2007 revealed that Sowetan buyers mainly shopped at Southgate Mall (51%) and in the Johannesburg CBD (41%) - travelling some distance to get to quality malls. Since then things have change quite dramatically with new malls and massive development in Soweto.

"It turns out from the latest ROOTS 2010 that Sowetan PDMs - like white, coloured Indian and Asian consumers in other Johannesburg suburbs - choose to shop closer to home if they have retail outlets and shopping centres nearby. A logical no brainer but some marketers have argued that the black market have a 'different' consumer behaviour. This is simply not true. Buyers buy where there is convenience, good prices and great range, regardless of race," says Bowles.

CBD shopping goes south as convenience wins

Across all of the researched suburbs in Soweto, the interviewed PDMs mostly shop at Maponya Mall (59%), Jabulani Mall (54%), Protea Gardens Mall (24%) and only 24% are shopping at Southgate Mall. "The Southgate statistic is very interesting as it has decreased by 53% since the previous ROOTS 2007 survey," adds Bowles. "But where Sowetan residents have really zapped off the destination list is in the Johannesburg CBD - these figures decreased from 41% to 17% of all PDM's - a significant decrease of 59% since 2007."

But when you break down the suburbs within Soweto the data looks even more interesting. Bowles states that although Maponya and Jabulani are the main feet pullers, the higher income suburbs of Soweto (Diepkloof, Dobsonville and Protea located on the edges of the township) tend to still head out of the area. "Diepkloof buyers still head to Southgate first and only then does Maponya make it onto their destination list. This isn't because it's a more qualitative destination or shows 'status' but because it's more convenient. One taxi to Southgate and two to Maponya! Convenience wins again - nothing more!" says Bowles.

Mimics pattern

These trends are not limited to Diepkloof. For example, in the Sowetan suburb of Chiawelo, 79% of the PDMs shop at their nearest and most convenient new mall - Protea Gardens Mall, whereas 69% shop at Maponya Mall and 51% at Jabulani Mall.

"The pattern of shopping close to home mimics its pattern across all researched areas. In Bedfordview / Edenvale, Greenstone Shopping Centre has been built since our last research in 2007 and has had a major impact on destination choice - to the detriment of Eastgate. In ROOTS 2007 the majority of PDMs in the Bedfordview / Edenvale area shopped at Eastgate. With the development of Greenstone Shopping Centre, ROOTS 2010 shows that 68% of Bedfordview / Edenvale PDMs choose Greenstone Shopping Centre. Why wouldn't they - it's on their doorstep?" adds Bowles.

Conducted by TNS Research Surveys, the invaluable ROOTS 2010 data is available free of charge to retailers, marketers, media planners and strategists, and on Telmar systems. For more information, contact NAB at +27 (0) 11 889 0610 or go to www.nab.co.za.