Questions and answers for shops and businesses
Ten questions and answers for town centre shops and businesses
This information (compiled following the 1998 and 99 ITWMC days) is aimed at shops and businesses in the towns participating in the "In town, without my car!" day on 22nd September. Its purpose is to help the shops and businesses to get organised to ensure that this day is a commercial success.
1. What is the purpose of this day?
Today, our town centres suffer from the unpleasant effects generated by the automobile: pollution, noise congestion... However, the quality of the centres is vital to heighten the attractiveness of the town centre shops and businesses, faced with the growth of the peripheral superstores. The "In town, without my car!" operation offers citizens and the shops' customers a centre that is more convivial and more appealing.
Let's share the public spaces and give each person his/her place:
pedestrians, cyclists, young people, older people, working population and retired people!
Let's invite the customers to come on foot, by public transport, on a bike...
and to experience the town differently.
2. How can you actively prepare for this day?
By participating in the consultation meetings to which "the town invites you" elected representatives and technicians to prepare the day: your presence is needed for the day to be successful.
You can take the initiative and arrange meetings with your Chamber of Commerce and Industry, your guild chamber, your commercial union or your traders' association so as to organise actions to make this day a commercial success.
Think about your 22nd September deliveries: talk to your suppliers, your hauliers and the municipality about this.
Inform your clientele and invite them to come and experience this event.
3. What trade promotion activities can you organise for this day?
It is essential that you mobilise to make this day a commercial success!
In the towns that took part in the 1998 and 1999 operations, the shops and businesses launched original, diversified activities, in particular:
- Promotion of pedestrian trips to do the shopping in Colombes;
- Distribution of 10,000 pass tickets by the shops in Montreuil, to be exchanged for a special "In town, without my car!" day RATP (Public transport) ticket;
- Pavement sales in Marseilles, Châteauroux, Issy-les-Moulineaux and Comines;
- Local produce markets in Miramas and Nevers;
- Shops open non-stop in Bourges;
- Public address system and street activities in the pedestrian streets run by a commercial presenter in Dax;
- Flower-decorated bicycles competition with 5,000 prizes to be won in Bethune.
And many other ideas can be devised!
4. How can you guarantee your deliveries on 22nd September?
For your deliveries on 22nd September, you can discuss with your usual contacts what arrangements to make to ensure optimum activity:
- Maintain your usual practices;
- Shift delivery times on 22nd September;
- Use any specific resources set up by the town hall (their own delivery vehicles, distribution platform, etc.);
- Shift deliveries to the previous day or the next day.
If you have received no information regarding the organisation of your deliveries, contact the town hall at least one week before 22nd September to find out what arrangements have been adopted regarding trade deliveries and dealing with customers who have made purchases.
Some towns, like Tours or La Rochelle last year, will make this a test day, trying out new methods of supplying shops and delivering purchases to the customers: ask at the town hall and take part in the experiment!
5. What do your customers think about this day?
All the surveys conducted since this operation was launched in 1998 show that customers strongly approve of the "In town, without my car!" operation.
For customers, this operation is:
A very good idea: 42%
A fairly good idea: 48%
A fairly bad idea: 8%
A very bad idea: 2%
Source: BVA - 1999
Thus 90% of customers feel that this operation is a good idea, and 57% of them are in favour of it being repeated.
The customers questioned by BVA appreciated being able to move around more easily on foot and found the town less polluted, quieter and less stressful.
Survey carried out by BVA on 800 customers on 22nd September in Lille, Besançon, La Rochelle and Nîmes.
6. Are there fewer people in town on that day?
The pedestrians
In all the towns surveyed, there were more pedestrians than on an ordinary day.
|
Aix-en-Provence |
+5% |
|
Chambéry |
+17% |
|
Lille |
+23% |
|
Castres |
+54% |
Source: BVA, CETE South-West - 1999
The customers
Exit counts made on the town centre shops in several towns in 1998 and in 1999 show that there were just as many customers, if not more, than on a comparable day.
Specific surveys carried out in 1999, in a large shopping chain in Lille and Besançon, and in a cinema in Lille, showed that the operation had not led to any fall in the volume of their clientele.
7. Who comes to do their shopping in town on that day?
The customers
Like on an ordinary day, 80% of customers on 22nd September live outside the car-free zone, but the "In town, without my car!" day also attracts a new clientele: 11% of customers on that day stated that they would not have come if the operation had not been in force.
The amount of the purchases
The amount of the purchases made or planned by town centre customers on 22nd September is equivalent to that of a comparable day.
Amount of purchases by town centre customers
|
|
22/09 |
ordinary Wednesday |
|---|---|---|
|
less than 200FRF |
39% |
39% |
|
from 200 to 500FRF |
40% |
41% |
|
from 500 to 1000FRF |
15% |
12% |
|
more than 1000FRF |
6% |
8% |
Source: BVA - 1999
Survey carried out by BVA on 800 customers on 22nd September in Lille, Besançon, La Rochelle and Nîmes.
8. HOW DO THE CUSTOMERS GET INTO THE TOWN CENTRE?
Method used by customers on 22nd September and on a comparable day
|
|
22/09 |
usually |
|---|---|---|
|
2 wheels |
5% |
3% |
|
Car |
30% |
40% |
|
public transport |
18% |
11% |
|
on foot |
44% |
40% |
Source: Sofres - 1998
On 22nd September, the customers get into the centre mainly by public transport and on foot: use of the car declines significantly.
50% of car-driving customers were unable to park in their usual spot. However, this did not make them abandon their journey: they just finished their trip on foot.
Note that ordinarily, to get into the centre, going on foot is just as popular as by car.
9. What is the impact of the operation on the town centre's trading turnover?
Generally, surveys relating to trading turnover are hard to interpret, as there can be sharp fluctuations between one day and another or one week and another, especially in this post-holiday period.
The great majority of shops, except in La Rochelle, stated that their turnover was lower on 22nd September than on a comparable day.
They also declared that their activity on 23rd September was higher than that of a normal Thursday, probably due to purchases deferred from the previous day.
However, the surveys carried out did not allow for a precise quantification of the impact of the operation on the town centre shops' turnover. Be that as it may, even if this operation has an impact on the town centre shops' turnover, it does not appear to be enormous.
10. Does this operation benefit the superstores around the town?
The number of checkout customers in the supermarkets and hypermarkets around La Rochelle is equivalent to a comparable day.
Meters fixed at the entrance to several shopping centres around Lille and La Rochelle from 21st September to 9th October show that the volume of cars entering did not increase on 22nd September. The clientele of the peripheral superstores on 22nd September is composed of almost 80% regulars. Contrary to an idea sometimes expressed, the "In town, without my car!" operation does not particularly benefit the surrounding shops and businesses.
Usual shopping venue of customers on 22nd September
|
|
in this shopping centre |
in the town centre |
elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nîmes |
60% |
2% |
38% |
|
Lille |
79% |
2% |
19% |
|
La Rochelle |
70% |
3% |
27% |
|
Besançon |
74% |
1% |
25% |
|
Total of 4 towns |
71% |
2% |
27% |
Survey carried out by Sofres on 1,700 customers in Lille, Besançon, La Rochelle and Nîmes.
Acknowledgements
The following contributed to the production of this document:
The CERTU, Networks, transport, town planning and public construction research centre, of the Public Amenities, Transport and Housing Department;
The Regional Development and Environment Department;
The ADEME, Environment and Energy Control Agency.
With the assistance of the European Commission, Environment Directorate.
