Untitled - Cork City Council

Appendix 3 : The Surveys of Shopping Patterns
Table 3 Place of Residence of Respondent
Mahon Point City Centre
No of respondents 402 594
% %
Centre 48.7 48.8
Elsewhere County Cork 46.3 42.3
County Limerick 1.4 0.9
County Kerry 1.5 1.2
County Waterford 0.8 1.6
County Tipperary (both) 0.2 0.6
Rest of the Republic 1.0 3.0
Northern Ireland 0.0 0.0
England Scotland Wales 0.0 1.3
Rest of World 0.0 0.3
Total percentage 100.0 100.0
7 Some of these “non–Corkers” make regular shopping visits from their homes outside the county,
invariably for comparison purchases (none of them gave food or grocery shopping as their main
purpose). But there was also a more random element: at Mahon Point, 72% said they did not
shop there regularly, or that this was their first visit (the comparable figure in the City centre was
34%). Only about half of all “non-Corkers” in both centres had started their visit from home – the
rest had come from other places, usually within County Cork. In fact, 20% of those visiting the
City Centre had come under their own steam – by foot or cycle - from hotels or other temporary
addresses
8 It is to be expected that there are people from nearby counties making regular comparison
shopping trips, since high level shopping facilities are sparse in Kerry and Tipperary and less
attractive than Cork City in many other nearby areas. And, as we can see, Cork City Centre and
Mahon Point are also benefiting from occasional visitors to the county.
9 Long distance visitors like these tend to spend more than other shoppers. At Mahon Point,
where respondents were interviewed as they left the centre, we asked how much they and other
members of their shopping party had spent on the current trip. In the City Centre we asked how
much respondents expected their parties to spend in total on the current trip. The results are
given by Table 4.4, broken down between people living outside the county and all shoppers.
Table 4 Mean Expenditure on Current Trip by Shopping Party (€)
Mahon Point
City Centre
non-Cork all non-Cork all
No of respondents 31 402 61 594
€ € € €
Supermarkets 1.8 27.7 0.3 5.9
Food/groceries at other shops 0.0 0.4 0.0 3.9
Clothes/ shoes 132.8 83.1 98.9 53.7
Market 0.4 1.2 1.7 1.8
Other shops 31.8 14.1 10.1 16.7
Total expenditure 166.8 126.5 110.9 81.9
Total convenience 2.2 29.3 2.0 11.6
Total comparison 164.6 97.2 109.0 70.3
10 For all shopping parties, average expenditure was €127 at Mahon Point and €82 in the City
Centre. Expenditure by non-residents was about one third higher – averaging €167 at Mahon
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