London’s new Westfield: attracting the devoted shopper
Alice Dunn, marketing executive at Kantar Media, says now is the time for marketers to start targeting devoted shoppers who will return again and again long after the Olympics moves on to Rio…
London has a lot to be excited about, not only are the Olympics soon to arrive in town but September sees the opening of Europe’s largest shopping centre. First we had Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush, which was hailed a great success when it opened in 2008, bridging the gap between luxury and high street stores. Westfield Stratford City promises to be even more spectacular than its west side sister store with its views over the Olympic park and its even larger retail space.
Insight from Kantar Media’s TGI survey reveals that 8.9 million British adults (15+) visit major shopping centres, like Westfield and Bluewater, at least once a month. Of these keen shoppers, 26% are aged under 25, which makes up the largest proportion. In line with this, they are 49% more likely to be in the TGI Lifestage ‘Flown the Nest’ group (15-34, unmarried and not living with relations). They are a high value group for marketers, being almost 50% more likely than the average adult to have a family income of over £50,000.
These shopping centre lovers are a materialistic, stylish bunch. They are 68% more likely than the average adult to wear designer clothes and 64% more likely to enjoy eating in trendy places. They are also far more likely to say their car should catch people’s attention and express their personality as well as being unable to resist buying expensive perfumes and aftershaves.
The good news for marketers is that these image-conscious shopaholics are an easily-influenced group. Not only are they far more likely to be influenced by celebrities in their purchase decisions, they also tend to buy products from companies who sponsor TV programmes. This could prove an effective relationship for marketers to tap into. This group also respond well to advertising generally, being far more likely to be tempted to buy products they see advertised and often noticing adverts in shopping centres, on taxis and at bus stops.
Insight from TGI reveals that cinema stands out as one of the most efficient means for reaching these shoppers. They are 82% more likely than the average adult to be among the heaviest fifth of cinema-goers. In particular their favourite types of films are teenage comedies, rom-coms and horrors. Similarly, they are almost a third more likely to be in the heaviest fifth of consumers of outdoor media and internet. This is not to say that are not also open to new kinds of media, as they are 45% more likely to be willing to pay to access content on newspaper websites.
These keen shoppers are a useful group for marketers to tap into because they have the power to influence their friends, being close to a third more likely to say people go to them for advice before buying new things. This ‘word of mouth’ effect could prove very influential in getting more people into Westfield’s stores once it opens its doors in Stratford next week.
Westfield Stratford City is opening at an exciting time for London. In the run up to Christmas it will be sure to attract the hordes of Christmas shoppers as an alternative to London’s other busy shopping spots. Thereafter marketers will be sure to tap into the Olympic buzz associated with the shopping centre which will only increase as the Games get closer. Now is therefore the time for marketers to begin targeting the devoted shoppers who will return again and again long after the Olympics move on to Rio.