It is now almost 12 months since a group of General Merchandise Traders decided to question the results of customer surveys at the QVM. It was claimed that the majority of our customers were local and surveys conducted around the market, usually at key traffic points like car-park entrances or pedestrian malls, seemed to confirm that.General Merchandise Traders decided to do their own count but they did it with a difference. Instead of surveying people wandering malls or going to and from their cars, they surveyed actual paying customers in the top end of the market. Over a period of one week, customers who opened their purse/wallet to purchase, were asked where they came from. A staggering 70 % were intrastate or interstate tourists.
This has been an important discovery in the way we target our key tourist customers but of course 30% of our customers can’t be ignored either and many traders see great potential in attracting more locals into the top end of the market at the same time.