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CITY REGION BOUNDARIES STUDY
APPENDIX D RETAIL CATCHMENTS
Retail Rankings
D.1 Retail centres across Scotland have been ranked as part of a UK study by the information company Experian. The rankings were based on surveys of around 1100 shopping locations and about 330,000 retail outlets in the UK. A vitality score was given to the top 20 shopping locations in Scotland and this score has been plotted in Figure D1. The score is based on a number of performance indicators such as floorspace and the number of major multiple, comparison and quality independent retailers. Negative factors such as vacant floorspace were also considered.
D.2 The scale of the markers on the map does not indicate the area of influence of the shopping centres, but the fact that Parkhead, Braehead, Paisley etc are hidden by the general Glasgow marker is probably an accurate reflection of the relative scale of influence of these centres when compared with the city centre. Nevertheless each centre serves a different market sector and will have a user profile which reflects its location and access characteristics by car, public transport and local walk in catchment.
D.3 Overall, the four cities have the top four vitality rankings with Glasgow (362), being the top ranked centre in Scotland and the second in terms of the UK rankings after London's West End (470). Edinburgh (268) is ranked 12 th in UK terms, Aberdeen (238) is 27 th and Dundee (198) is 60 th.
D.4 Experian do not publish the background data on which the rankings have been based so little can be learned about retail catchments. It is therefore necessary to look at separate data on travel patterns for shopping and on retail accessibility to understand the geographical influence of the city shopping centres.
Figure D1 - Top 20 Scottish Retail Locations
Shopping trips in the Scottish Household Survey
D.5 The SHS travel diary data contains details of over 7000 home based shopping trips in Scotland. Figures D2, D3, D4 and D5 show the percentage of trips to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen respectively, from each postcode sector. It should be noted that with over 1000 postcode sectors across Scotland, the sample level was insufficient to give a reliable percentage for any individual postcode sector. However the shopping patterns can be seen from the bunching of postcodes. In broad terms 5% indicates one surveyed trip from the sector to the city, 10% indicates two surveyed trips and over 20% indicates 3 or more surveyed trips.
D.6 Although it is generally only possible to rely on results from bunched postcodes there are sufficient random postcodes in Ayrshire with more than 5% of home based shopping trips to Glasgow to indicate that there is a significant influence there.
Figure D2 - Shopping Trips to Glasgow
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