1. RETAIL TRADE AREA ANALYSIS PRESENTATION

2. According to (Levy and Weitz, 1999), Retail Trade Analysis refers to the examination or exploration of the geographic sector that contains potential customers for a particular retailer or shopping center.
There are three (3) basic zones or segments namely, primary zone, secondary zone and tertiary zone as shown by the diagram below (figure1.0).

3. Figure 1.0
Primary zone
Secondary zone
Tertiary zone

4. (a) Primary zone
It is the geographic area from which the store or shopping center derives 60-65% of its customers. This is also referred to as the (Central Business District) CBD, which is traditionally known as the center of the town. It is where businesses established themselves early in the development of towns or cities. The CBD is characterized by intense competition, high rental rates, traffic congestion and inadequate parking facilities. The city center in Harare is an example of a central business district.

5. (b) Secondary zone
This refers to the geographic area of secondary importance in terms of customer sales generating about 20% of a store’s sales. This is commonly known as the down town area and it is situated near the CBD and rentals in this sector are fairly lower as compared with the primary zone. For example, the area along Charter and Cameroon streets along OK Cameroon, torwards Mbare musika lies in this zone.

6. (c) Tertiary zone
It is the outer most- ring and it includes customer who occasionally shop at the store or shopping center. It can also be referred to as the industrial area or the last zone which is situated at the outskirts of the town or city and it is comprised of the lowest rentals when compared with the primary and secondary zones. Examples of the tertiary sector include; Granite site and the Southerton industrial area, among others.

7. Mc Cant’s findings
Consequently, According to (Mc Cant, 2005), “the most important communication a store has with its customers is through its location. When selecting the location of a shop or retail outlet, certain factors will have to be weighed against one another. Attracting customers will necessitate extra costs in one way or another. If you pay more rent for a location that is easily accessible to customers, say in a shopping mall, you will pay less for advertising and promotion and vice-versa”.

8. Mc Cant outlined the following retail principles as vital in the selection of a location:
Adequacy of present market area potential - This is determined by the number of people in the market area and determining their purchasing power and willingness to spend their money.
Customer Accessibility – Retail outlets and service firms are typical examples of businesses that target market customers. Many products such as snack foods and fuel are convenience goods the ideal location should be close to target customers.

9. Growth Potential – The customer location must be in an area with growing population and income rate.
Business Interception - A location must be chosen to intercept or to capture customers when they are heading to their traditional retailers.
Cumulative attraction – A retailer must decide if she would like to locate close to a cluster of shops or in a position where business can be intercepted.

10. Compatibility – Factors that contribute to compatibility or similar in temperament, (well-matched) between two or more shops, should also be considered. That is for example Do neighboring shops do more business next to each other than they were separated?, or are they are bad for each other ?
Maximizing the competition hazard – Current and potential future competitors must be identified and considered. A location must be located away from competitors and in a position where competitors cannot intercept customers.
Site Economies – An analysis of the available services and characteristics of the site, such as size, shape (that is, the ability to carry large or heavy building structures, etc) is also necessary.

11. After a retailer has managed to analyze the external environment, a further decision has to be carried out in deciding which province to locate. Consequently, certain decisions need also to be made about the location of the outlet, which include the selection of a town or city in the selected province. The factors to be considered in choosing the above are outlined below:

12. Selection of a Province
When a retailer is selecting a province certain factors should be considered. These are regional compatibility, proximity to markets, availability of labor and the business climate.

13. Regional Compatibility – Zimbabwe is comprised of 10 provinces, so a retailer need to determine which province has growth potential and then establish how compatible the store is with the region.
Proximity to Markets – The proximity to markets indicates accessibility to various markets. The proximity to suppliers must be compared with the proximity of the market. Competitiveness, transport costs and waste disposal alternatives are also important considerations.

14. Availability of labor – Retailers need to know how many workers are available in the region and their level of education, training and experience. They should also know what kind of labor is required. This can be done by preparing job descriptions and job specifications in advance.
Business Climate – This is the provincial authorities’ attitude to the proposed type of business and the general business climate in the region should also be determined.

15. (ii) Selection of a Town or City
This is where by the retailer is starting to pin point the exact location of his or her outlet. The following factors should be considered when selecting a city or town: Population trends, Local Laws and Regulations, Competition, Compatibility with the community and Availability of services.

16. Population Trends – Population growth trends, family size, age distribution, education, income levels, religion, gender and race are all factors that should be considered. Retailers must determine whether more consumers will visit the area during holiday seasons or during the week.
Local Laws and Regulations – The retailer must determine whether the planned business is in conflict with local laws and regulations that might restrict certain retailing activities.

17. Competition – With this aspect the retailer will be focusing on the identity, nature, size and competitive advantages of competitors must be determined. The retailer must also find out whether or not the market is saturated and if there is still a market for new entrance. For example most retailers or businesses locate close to competition because those similar businesses often increase customer traffic to them all.
Compatibility with the community – This is whereby a retailer must determine whether the image of the retail outlet will be projected in the area and whether it will be compatible with the environment of the specific city or town.

18. Availability or services – The retailer needs to look at the availability and cost of water and electricity and the quality of the police and fire departments in the area and also there is need to compare the transportation systems, that is if labourers need transport, they must have access to taxis, buses and or trains if necessary.

19. Types of location Typically store location may be:
Free standing/Isolated store- Solitary site
Part of a planned Business District
Part of an unplanned Business District

20. Isolated store
A store located along a major traffic artery, without any competitive retailers around.
Generally the store is located off the main road, highway or street.
Large retailers and medical retailers utilise isolated sites
The advantage is limited competition resulting in lower rental.
However it is harder to attract traffic to a solitary site.

21. Merits of isolated site
Lack of competition
Low rental costs
Lower operating costs which can be passed on the customer.
High impact of presence given traffic visibility
Parking space
Larger display area and store layout provision
Location as a differentiating strategy

22. Demerits of a solitary site
Difficulty in attracting initial/new customers
May not have a great deal of gravitational pull
High promotional costs
No shared benefit of security
No shared costs for grounds maintenance and environmental improvements

23. The Unplanned Shopping Area/site
May be a retail location with two or more outlets in close proximity to each other.
Buildings may have been converted to retail use and the ownership is frequently fragmented among a number of companies or owners.
A number of retailers will coexist, with perhaps an oversupply of some business types and a shortage of others.
There are no quotas as to number and types of retail businesses.

24. Merits of Unplanned site
Variety of retail choice in a single area
Ability to compare prices
Higher traffic of pedestrian
Access to public transport
Convenience of saving time by utilising different stores.

25. Demerits of Unplanned shopping site.
Traffic congestion and parking
Higher rents and taxes
Poor conditions of some of the properties in older city centres

26. Planned Business sites
Generally planned business site/district is centrally managed/owned.
The key to success of a planned business site is balanced tenant mix which offer complimentary merchandise to consumers .
Designed to attract consumers from greater distances.
Should have at least one anchor shop and enough parking space to attract customers.
Three types of planned business sites are regional centres, community centres, and neighbourhood centres.

27. Planned shopping centres can assume two basic configurations that is shopping mall and strip centre. a) Shopping mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to walk from unit to unit. Other establishments including movie theaters and restaurants are also often included.

28. Strip centre
A strip centre is an attached row of stores or service outlets managed as a coherent retail entity, with on-site parking usually located in front of stores.
Does not have enclosed walkways linking the stores.
May be configured in a straight line, or have an “L” or “U” shape.

29. Regional centre
A regional mall is, as per the International Council of Shopping Centers, in the United States, a shopping mall which is designed to service a larger area (15 miles) than a conventional shopping mall. As such, it is typically larger with 37,000 m2 to 74,000 m2 gross leasable area with at least two anchor stores and offers a wider selection of stores. Given their wider service area, these malls tend to have higher-end stores that need a larger area in order for their services to be profitable but may have discount department stores. Regional malls are also found as tourist attractions in vacation areas.

30. Community Centre
Community centers (or community malls) are larger than neighborhood centers, and offer a wider range of goods. They usually feature two anchor stores which are larger than that of a neighborhood center's, e.g. a discount department store. They may also follow a strip configuration, or may be L- or U- shaped. Community centers usually feature a retail area of 100,000 to 350,000 square feet (9,300 to 32,500 m2) and serve a primary area of 3 to 6 miles (4.8 to 9.7 km).

31. Neibourhood center
Neighborhood centers are small-scale malls serving the local neighborhood. They typically have a supermarket or a drugstore as an anchor, and are commonly arranged in a strip mall format. Neighborhood centers usually have a retail area of 30,000 to 150,000 square feet (2,800 to 13,900 m2), and serve a primary area in a 3-mile (4.8 km) radius. They are sometimes known as convenience centers

32. Superregional centre- Similar to a regional centre, but is larger than a regional centre, has more anchors, a deeper selection of merchandise, and draws from a larger population base.
Fashion/Specialty centre- A centre composed mainly of upscale apparel shops, boutiques and craft shops carrying selected fashion or unique merchandise of high quality andf price

33. Power centre A centre dominated by several large anchors, including discount department stores, off- price stores, warehouse clubs, or “category killers,” i.e stores that offers tremendous selection in a particular merchandise category at low prices. The centre typically consists of several freestanding (unconnected) anchors and only a minimum amount of small specialty tenants

34. Theme/Festival centre- these centres typically employ a unifying theme that is carried out by the individual shops in their architectural design and , to an extent, in their merchandise. The biggest appeal of these centres is to tourists, they can be anchored by restaurants and entertainment facilities.
Outlet centre-Usually located in rural or occassionally in tourist location. Outlet centres consists of mainly manufacturer’s outlet stores selling their own brands at a discount.

35. Merits of a planned shopping centre
Balance and comprehensiveness of the retail offers
Freedom for individuals to shop in comfort and satisfy all their needs in the single centre.
Creation of a single unified image.
The ability to increase security and reduce theft.

36. Demerits of an unplanned shopping centre
Inflexibility stipulated in the retail agreement such as opening hours.
Rents may be higher than in other locations.
Restrictions as to the type of goods which may be sold by different stores
Smaller stores may not be as successful as the more established ones.