Types of goods

Aim: To find out what high and low order goods are and the recognise shopping hierarchy models.

High Order

•

High order shops are those that sell mainly high priced goods that people buy only occasionally.

•

Examples are: furniture shops, jewellers, stores selling large electrical goods such as washing machines, televisions and freezers, car dealers, travel agents selling holidays.

•

Estate agents are high order. This is because people move house, on average, only once every seven years. Therefore the services of an estate agent, selling houses, is used infrequently.

Low Order

•

Low order shops mainly sell low priced goods that people buy frequently.

•

Examples are a bakery, butcher, grocer, supermarket, newsagent, sweet shop.

Can you spot the difference between today's modern settlement hierarchy with the hierarchy from the 1960's/70's?

Use the following sentence starters to structure your answer:

“ CBD is no longer at the top of the hierarchy because”… “The number of corner shops has declined because ”…

Suggested Answers - CBD

The CBD is no longer at the top of the shopping hierarchy It has been superseded by regional shopping centres (e.g. Blagnac & Portet). 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 (Ikea).

Less Corner Shops

The number of corner shops have reduced. This is the result of greater mobility, the limited and often expensive range of convenience goods available and due to more people being paid monthly they buy in bulk from supermarkets.