Transcript Slide 1

GCSE GEOGRAPHY
COURSEWORK PREPARATION
SHOPPING PATTERNS IN SOLIHULL
SHOPPING PATTERNS IN
SOLIHULL
Your study has strong links to many Human Geography topics in particular
shopping,
but it also has links to settlement, industry and economic activity.
It is crucially important that you realise the connection between your
coursework and Geography and that you can put your work into context i.e.
how it fits into your GCSE and why you are doing it.
You need to be aware of the following aspects of SHOPPING:
• How shopping habits have changed over time
• Shopping Hierarchy and how this has changed over time
• Types of goods that people buy – high and low order goods
• Sphere of Influence.
First things first….
• Types of goods (what they sell for you to buy)
• Low order goods: essential every day items,
convenience goods – such as bread, milk food
etc. Historically these goods would have been
bought from corner shops (though now obviously
supermarkets have replaced their importance.)
• High order goods: those needed less frequently,
non-essential often luxurious items, comparison
goods such as electrical items, furniture,
designer label clothes etc. They are more
expensive and are generally bought from large
shopping centres, retail parks etc where people
can shop around and have a larger choice.
What is hierarchy?
In brief……..!!!
As you go up a hierarchy the quantity is generally less but the
importance greater.
What is shopping hierarchy?
• Shops can be placed into a hierarchy based on the
services they provide. At the bottom of the
hierarchy are small shops selling low order,
convenience goods (e.g. bread and milk). At the top
are the shops selling high order goods (e.g. furniture
and electrical goods).
What was the British shopping hierarchy of
the 1960's and 1970's?
This diagram shows the
shopping hierarchy for Britain in
the 1960s/70s. At the bottom
are corner shops which sell low
order goods. They are greater in
number than any other shopping
area. Above the corner shops
are suburban parades and
secondary centres. These sell
middle order goods. This is
usually a mixture of convenience
and specialist goods. There are
usually several of these areas
within a large settlement. At the
top is the CBD (central business
district - town/city centre).
There is usually only one CBD in
a town or city. The CBD contains
shops which sell comparison
goods (shops containing goods
which you will compare the prices
of - due to their expense!),
luxury and specialist shops.
What is today's British shopping hierarchy?
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Can you spot the difference between
today's modern settlement hierarchy with
the hierarchy from the 1960's/70's?
The CBD is no longer at the top of the
shopping hierarchy It has been superseded
by regional shopping centres (e.g.
Meadowhall, The Metro Centre and
Merryhill). Due to increased mobility (the
result of increased car ownership) people
can travel further to shops, visit shops
with a wider range and volume of stock
and buy in bulk.
There have also been other, less obvious,
changes in the settlement hierarchy For
example the number of corner shops have
reduced. This is the result of greater
mobility, the limited and often expensive
range of goods available and due to more
people being paid monthly they buy in bulk
from supermarkets.
In some areas CBDs have declined due to
competition with regional shopping centres.
Dudley is an examples of this. The
construction of the Merryhill Shopping
Centre has caused huge problems in Dudley
the local CBD. Many shops have closed or
moved to the shopping centre
So what is the difference?
How has shopping hierarchy changed?
Sphere of Influence
The sphere of influence of a shop, shopping area
or service is how far people will travel to make
use of it. For example, a corner shop selling low
order goods will have a smaller sphere of
influence than a shopping mall selling high order
goods. People are more willing to travel a long
distance to get to a high order service (e.g.
Harrods shop in London) as there will be a wider
choice and it therefore has a very large sphere
of influence.
0
10 miles
In Summary
In general, the larger the settlement, the greater the variety of
shops and services. Convenience goods and groceries will be
available in small settlements, though larger stores and comparison
goods require a visit to a town or city. This is the shopping
hierarchy.
• The threshold population is the number of people needed to ensure
that a shop or service is profitable. A village shop may need a few
hundred people to keep it going, but a large supermarket will need
thousands of customers.
• The sphere of influence or catchment area is the distance or range
that people are prepared to travel to buy goods or services. This
idea is linked to the shopping hierarchy.
• The sphere of influence is dependent on factors such as transport
links, availability of parking and quality of the environment. The quantity, type and
nature (eg. Whether they are exclusive to this place or found in all shopping centres)
are also important. Also of importance is whether or not the shopping area will draw
people from a wider area is what else it has to offer alongside shops e.g. eateries, a
cinema, sports facilities etc. This is more likely to make people travel further as
they can have an all round day out. This
makes more distant settlements more attractive to shoppers in
some cases, despite the same goods being available more locally.
• The internet is rapidly changing the geography of retail, especially
for groceries and certain comparison goods.
In summary – why have shopping
habits changed?
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People’s lifestyles have changed both economically and socially
Better transport facilities so people can travel further
More people have their own cars
Small shops have declined due to competition from larger shopping areas and
retail parks who generally have cheap or free parking
Whole day experience provided by many shopping areas
Longer opening hours so can shop after work
Greater choice of shop
Supermarkets have all your needs under one roof as far as the weekly grocery
shop is concerned
People are more fashion conscience so want labels and more original clothing
People want more specialist electrical equipment so shops to cater for these
needs too
More people have higher income
Fuel prices
Credit cards
Terror scares
Internet and mail order
Ebay