gcse geography - an investigation into shopping patterns in derby

Geography – An Investigation into Shopping Patterns in Derby

An Investigation into Shopping Patterns in Derby

Dan Foy

Candidate Number Dan Foy Landau Forte College02145 1 23329


Contents

Contents..........................................................................................................2

Introduction....................................................................................................4

Introduction Derby....................................................................................................4

Introduction to the three areas..................................................................................5

Derby City Centre (The Central Business District)............................................................5

Littleover (the Urban Shopping Parade)............................................................................5

Kingsway (the Retail Park)................................................................................................5

Introduction to the investigation................................................................................5

My hypotheses..........................................................................................................6

Core hypotheses:..............................................................................................................6

My hypotheses:.................................................................................................................6

Background theory....................................................................................................7

Method.............................................................................................................8

How did we collect the information?.........................................................................8

Conditions on the day...............................................................................................8

Results............................................................................................................9

Core Hypotheses......................................................................................................9

Theory 1: The CBD will have the largest sphere of influence...........................................9

Theory 2: Most people in Littleover buy low order or convenience goods compared to Kingsway and the city centre..........................................................................................10

Theory 3: People visit Kingsway least often of the three sites.......................................11

Theory 4: Most people use credit cards to pay for goods at Kingsway..........................12

Theory 5: Walking is the preferred form of transport at Littleover..................................13

My Hypotheses.......................................................................................................14

Theory 1: Most people who have visited the Central Business District (CBD) have arrived via public transport..............................................................................................14

Theory 2: There are more women shoppers on weekdays than male shoppers............15

Theory 3: The majority of shoppers at Littleover will be over 60....................................16

Other results...........................................................................................................17

Pedestrian Count............................................................................................................17

Environmental Survey.....................................................................................................17

Article on women shoppers.............................................................................................18

Map of Care Homes in Littleover............................................................................18

Conclusions..................................................................................................19

Core hypotheses:....................................................................................................19

The city centre will have the largest sphere of influence.................................................19



Most people in Littleover buy low order or convenience goods compared to Kingsway and the city centre...........................................................................................................19

People visit Kingsway least often of the three sites........................................................19

Most people use credit cards to pay for goods at Kingsway...........................................20

Walking is the preferred form of transport at Littleover...................................................20

My hypotheses........................................................................................................20

Most people who have visited the Central Business District (CBD) have arrived via public transport.......................................................................................................................... 20

There are more women shoppers on weekdays than male shoppers.............................21

The majority of shoppers at Littleover will be over 60.....................................................21

Evaluation.............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.



IntroductionIntroduction DerbyDerby is a city in the east midlands of England. It is the 18 th largest city in England, having been made a city in 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II, to mark the 25 th anniversary of her ascension to the throne.

Map of Derby courtesy of Multimap.com

Map of Derby and surrounding cities courtesy of Multimap.com



Close-up of Derby courtesy of Google Maps

Introduction to the three areas

Derby City Centre (The Central Business District)The CBD is the main centre for shopping within Derby, where most of the big-name shops can be found.

The CBD is often the area of a city that has the largest sphere of influence, as it generally contain the most shops, choice, and competitive prices.

Littleover (the Urban Shopping Parade)Littleover is a suburban district that has its own suburban shopping promenade. These promenades are commonplace in large suburban areas and usually provide high-order goods to people living nearby.

Littleover contains typical shops such as a fast-food outlet, mini-supermarket, pet store, and barbers.

Kingsway (the Retail Park)Kingsway is a development a little outside of the main city, in the Redevelopment Sector. It contains both an industrial estate and a retail park.

The retail section of Kingsway contains mostly large department stores for low-order goods such as furniture (SCS), hardware and materials (B&Q), and electrical equipment (Comet, Currys). There is also a supermarket (Sainsbury’s) and petrol station, which provide high-order goods to the residents of nearby Mackworth.

Introduction to the investigationFor their GCSE Geography coursework at Landau Forte College, students are required to investigate shopping patterns in three separate areas around Derby. The areas were investigated were:

The Central Business District (CBD);


Kingsway

Littleover

Central business district


A retail centre;

A suburban shopping parade.

My hypothesesFor this investigation, I am required to investigate five core hypotheses and also a few of my own.

Core hypotheses:

1. The city centre will have the largest sphere of influence;

2. Most people in Littleover buy low order or convenience goods compared to Kingsway and the city centre;

3. People visit Kingsway least often of the three sites;

4. Most people use credit cards to pay for goods at Kingsway;

5. Walking is the preferred form of transport at Littleover.

My hypotheses:

1. Most people who have visited the Central Business District (CBD) have arrived via public transport;

2. There are more women shoppers on weekdays than male shoppers;

3. The majority of shoppers at Littleover will be over 60.



Background theory

The above diagram (from ‘The Wider World’ by David Waugh) shows general observations of an urban shopping hierarchy.



MethodHow did we collect the information?We collected the results using a questionnaire. The whole class shared an identical questionnaire; this was so that it would be possible to merge our results and therefore maximise the number of surveys. The surveys contain questions such as: how did you get here? Are you shopping or just browsing? What method of payment do you prefer?

We also took pictures to back up our results: pictures were taken by the teachers that were supervising us, as well as other students. I took some pictures, and also traded pictures with another student in my group, Becky Wilson.

In addition, we made land-use diagrams, environment survey and pedestrian count. Each group did one of each, and the results were merged together.

Conditions on the dayConditions on the day were pleasant. The sun came out periodically, and temperatures were quite high compared to recent conditions. The weather, as provided by AccuWeather.com, is provided below:



ResultsCore Hypotheses

Theory 1: The CBD will have the largest sphere of influence (Please see Sphere of Influence diagram)



Theory 2: Most people in Littleover buy low order or convenience goods compared to Kingsway and the city centre

Graph showing goods bought from different sections

6

1

22

11

30

86

1 1

11

1 2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

CITY CENTRE KINGSWAY LITTLEOVER

Area

Pe

op

le

Everyday goods

Specialist items

Weekly shop

Other

The above graph shows how many people surveyed in each area were there to buy certain goods. We can see from this graph that this core hypothesis is correct. A total of 23 people at Littleover were there to purchase everyday (convenience) or weekly (low-order) goods, compared with 12 in the CBD and 2 at Kingsway.

By far, the most everyday goods are bought from Littleover.

It is likely that people come to the Littleover shopping parade to buy everyday goods because they live nearby and it is more convenient to visit these nearby shops than having to go to town for similar products.

More people surveyed in the CBD were doing their weekly shop than in Littleover – this is probably because there aren’t any large supermarkets in Littleover; the only shop to sell weekly-shop-style goods is Iceland, which predominantly frozen foods and few other low-order goods.



Theory 3: People visit Kingsway least often of the three sites

Graph showing how often people visit different shopping sites

02468

101214161820

CITY CENTRE KINGSWAY LITTLEOVER

Shopping site

Nu

mb

er o

f p

eop

le

Daily Once a week or more Once a fortnight

Once a month Less than once a month

Here we can see that Littleover is by far the most commonly visited of the three sites, with 28 people out of the 32 asked visiting either daily or at least once a week, and with only 2 people asked visiting less than once a fortnight and no-one visiting less than once a month. This compares to 25 people out of the 33 asked visiting Kingsway just once a month or less.

Only 24% of people surveyed at Kingsway visited more than once a month, compared to 71% in the CBD and 94% in Littleover.

Kingsway is full of stores selling high-order goods such as electrical and DIY equipment. It is unlikely that shoppers here will need to visit as often as they visit the CBD or their suburban shopping parade as high order goods are needed much less often than the low-order goods found in the CBD and Littleover.

People go to Littleover mostly to buy everyday (i.e. low-low order) goods, and so will need to go every few days. The number of shops selling similar goods in the CBD means that shoppers can spend more time comparison shopping; also the wide range of shops allows people to browse or just look around. The shops in Kingsway mostly sell specialist items, are out of the way, and aren’t really accessible by foot or public transport.



Theory 4: Most people use credit cards to pay for goods at Kingsway

Methods of payment at Kingsway

24%

40%

30%

6%0%

Cash

Switch/debit card

Credit Card

Cheque

Other

As we can see, the theory that most shoppers at Kingsway use credit cards is incorrect. Most people at the retail park favour switch or debit cards as a method of payment – however, credit cards are still the second most popular method of payment.

Switch/debit cards, credit cards and cash make up 94% of the payments, with the one-popular cheque being used for just 6% of payments.

‘Plastic money’ (credit cards and debit or switch cards) makes up 70% of payments;

Less than a quarter of payments are made using hard cash – one possible reason for this is because goods at Kingsway in general cost more than shops at urban shopping parades or in town, and people are reluctant to carry large amounts of money on their person.



Theory 5: Walking is the preferred form of transport at Littleover

Methods of transport at Littleover

55%

9%

30%

0% 6%

Walk

Bus

Car

Cycle

Other

From the graph above, we can clearly see that this core hypothesis is true. Over half of those surveyed arrived by foot.

55% of those surveyed arrived by foot – 25% more than the next most popular mode of transport. This is probably because most shoppers who visit suburban shopping parades are there because they live nearby and the shops are convenient;

Almost 40% of those surveyed arrived either by car or by bus – the fact that there is a car park outside the shops and numerous bus-stops nearby may have contributed to this;

No-one arrived by bike.



My Hypotheses

Theory 1: Most people who have visited the Central Business District (CBD) have arrived via public transport

Graph showing methods of trasport to the CBD

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Nu

mb

er

of

pe

op

le

Walk Bus Car Cycle Other

We can see from my graph that my prediction is correct – although only by one person. A larger sample may help to make a more definite outcome.

44% of those surveyed arrived by bus – this may be because the CBD is too far to travel on foot and busses are a cheap alternative to city car parks

41% of those surveyed arrived by car – cars are convenient and have storage space for purchases made in town



Theory 2: There are more women shoppers on weekdays than male shoppers

Types of shoppers

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Nu

mb

er o

f sh

op

per

s

Male single

Female single

Couple

Group

We can see from my graph that my predictions are correct – there are more women shoppers on weekdays than male shoppers, couples or groups.

Out of those surveyed, 42 were single female shoppers;

Single male shoppers were the second most common out of those surveyed;

Very few people (only 10 out of our sample) were in a group, and only 17 were as a couple.



Theory 3: The majority of shoppers at Littleover will be over 60

Ages at Littleover

3

15

1519 - 40

41 - 60

61+

From the chart we can see that my hypothesis is somewhat correct: there are a large number of over-61 year-olds at Littleover, according to our sample.

There are 15 over-60 year-olds in our sample, making it dual top along with 41-60 year-olds;

There are very few (only 3) 19-40 year-olds in our sample;

Even though my hypothesis was not entirely correct, the vast majority of my sample were in the older two age ranges.



Other results

Pedestrian Count

Graph showing pedestrian counts at shopping sites

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Pedestrian count

Nu

mb

er o

f p

eop

le

City Centre Kingsw ay Littleover

Environmental Survey

Graph showing environmental conditions

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

City centre Kingsway Littleover

Rat

ing

ou

t o

f 3

Litter

Pavements

Street furniture

Graffiti

Key:

0. Poor

1. Unacceptable

2. Acceptable

3. Good



Article on women shoppers

“When Cathy Bonaroti, of Oakmont, goes pleasure shopping -- for clothes, shoes, home decor and the like -- she often goes alone.

It's not that she doesn't enjoy the company of girlfriends, but they can be distracting. And her husband, Frank, would rather play golf.”

From http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/fashion/s_463868.html (visit for full article)

Map of Care Homes in Littleover

In the above picture, the dots on ‘Burton Road’ (8, 4, 1 etc.) are in Littleover.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/fashion/s_463868.html


ConclusionsCore hypotheses:

The city centre will have the largest sphere of influenceThe CBD does indeed have the largest sphere of influence, although Kingsway also has a large sphere of influence.

People come to the Central Business District because it contains a wide variety of shops that people may not have access to locally such medium and high order shops as can be seen on the land-use maps. People tend to visit the CBD less often than Littleover (graph for hypothesis 3) because there are not as many low-order shops. People need to travel longer distances to their nearest CBD, however, to have access to the medium or high-order shops that don’t locate on urban shopping parades.

Most people in Littleover buy low order or convenience goods compared to Kingsway and the city centreFrom my findings, it is clear that by a large margin, the most everyday goods are bought from Littleover. This proves this core hypothesis.

Many people choose to buy low-order goods from Littleover because of the convenience of its location. As we can see from the graph for the 5 th hypothesis, most shoppers walk to Littleover, suggesting that they live in close proximity to the shopping parade.

In addition, if we look at the land usage map for Littleover, we see that most of the shops are either low-order shops or services. There are shops for everyday items such as Littleover Lunchbox, Birds and Stuart Marshall Butchers, and services such as a post office, hairdressers, and a pub. All of the above shops could are shops that would be useful to have nearby in walking distance – if you fancied a haircut, for example, or fancied a cut of meat for dinner.

In addition there are two shops at Littleover that are large enough for the weekly shop – Iceland or Sommerfield.

People visit Kingsway least often of the three sitesFrom the relative graph, we can see that only 24% of the people surveyed at Kingsway visited more than once a month. This compares with 71% for the CBD and 94% in Littleover. This shows that this core hypothesis is core hypothesis is correct. This also ties in with the background theory diagram that shows that people visit the development zone least often.

The Kingsway land-use map shows that most of the site is dedicated to high order shops, with a few medium order shops and one medium-low order shop (boots). This is most likely reason for why people visit so infrequently – people need to visit towns and urban shopping parades more often for weekly shops, haircuts and so on. Some people also visit the CBD for browsing and shop-front shopping – this is something that you can’t really do at a retail park.

Transport is another issue at Kingsway – there are not very good bus links, and the site is quite a walk from the surrounding residential areas. This means that people have to travel by car, and may be reluctant to do so when there are shops similar to



the low and medium order shops in nearer locations to them, such as on urban shopping parades or the CBD.

Most people use credit cards to pay for goods at Kingsway30% of shoppers at Kingsway use credit cards as a method of payment – but 40% use debit or switch cards. This means that this core hypothesis is false. However, this still means that 70% of shoppers use ‘plastic money’.

More shoppers use debit or Switch cards than anything else, and as many people use credit cards as the users of cash and cheques combined. This is most likely because the high-order goods that Kingsway provides are too expensive to be paid in cash, or because ‘plastic money’ is more convenient than cash, and quicker than checks.

Since credit cards have been introduced, there has been a lot of publicity over how the use of credit cards can lead to debts; debit/Switch cards are probably more popular due to the relative safety of only being able to spend what you actually have.

Walking is the preferred form of transport at LittleoverThis is true – 25% more people arrived by foot than the second most popular form of transport. People probably walk to Littleover because it is full of convenience, low-order and service shops (see above), and walking is a cheap, viable option. We can see that people live in walking distance from the spheres of influence maps.

Many of the shoppers in our Littleover sample were elderly or middle-aged, and therefore not in prime shape. Not everyone has the strength or energy or drive to walk to the shops, and this – coupled with the dedicated car park and nearby bus links – is the likely cause of the 40% of people who travel by car or bus.

My hypotheses

Most people who have visited the Central Business District (CBD) have arrived via public transport

This hypothesis is technically correct, as public transport is the method of transport used by most shoppers in the sample. However, only one more person caught public transport as opposed to driving. If more accurate results are needed, this survey could be repeated using a larger sample.

Public transport is popular because it’s relatively cheap compared to car parks, and is also useful if a car isn’t available. However, there is not enough storage spaces on busses to store all of some people’s purchases, which may explain the large number of shoppers who arrived by car.

The mixture of transport methods may also be down to the distance people live from the CBD – there may be no conveniently placed bus stops near to their houses if they live further away, and the sphere of influence maps show that the CBD draws shoppers in from a large radius.



There are more women shoppers on weekdays than male shoppersWe can see from my results that this hypothesis is indeed correct. The results also show that single males are the next most common, followed by couples and finally groups.

An article on shopping (an extract of which is included in the results) states that many women shop because they find it pleasurable, whereas men find entertainment in other pursuits and are more likely to shop only when they have to. Many women also choose to shop alone because it lessens the distractions. This explains the lack of groups seen in towns. If this survey was taken on a weekend, however, the results may be somewhat different, as people are more likely to go shopping as a ‘day out’ with their friends.

The majority of shoppers at Littleover will be over 60The results show that a large number of the shoppers are over 60 – although there were an equal number of 41-60 year olds. This means that most of the shoppers were older people – there were only 3 19-40 year olds in our survey.

Many older people are likely to shop at Littleover because of the convenience mentioned in other hypotheses, such as being nearby and having good transport links. There are a number of care homes in Littleover – this could also explain the number of older people at the shops (see ‘Map of Care Homes in Littleover).

Older people tend to have less independence compared with younger people, and rely on being able to catch the bus to or walk short distances to amenities. Results show that many people travel to Littleover by bus, and older people who travel by bus or walk aren’t going to be able to carry huge amounts of shopping, necessitating more frequent trips for this age band and thereby increasing the number of them there at any one time.



EvaluationMy projectI believe that my project was a success because I found everything that I set out to find out and also collected a large amount of data that could be useful to other people.

If I completed this study again, I would collect more information so that when everything is averaged out the results would be more accurate. I feel that not enough people were interviewed to make this survey entirely accurate or useful. I would also like to compare the Derby results to other results, such as that of another urban shopping parade or central business district.

If the study had been completed on a different day, we may have had different results. Many people choose to go shopping for recreation at the weekend – this may show up in our results. The days and hours that people work will affect our results (some people that would have liked to have been shopping may have been working), as will the weather (people are less likely to want to go shopping in the rain, for instance) and the time of year (there may be more people shopping in December as people buy presents for friends and family around this time).

People who are interested in setting up a business may be interested in my study, as it shows where people are likely to be shopping for certain goods, and therefore they will be able to make a good decision on where to site their business.


gcse geography - an investigation into shopping patterns in derby

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