Roots 2019: “The battle is won at a local level”

Understanding the local community and how it operates is key for businesses, was the message at the unpacking of the Roots 2019 survey results at Simbithi Country Club last Friday morning.

“The battle is won at a local level,” said Lynne Krog of TNS Research Surveys.

Roots is South Africa’s largest urban community survey, and offers unique insights into consumer behaviour. Krog broke down the results of the Roots 2019 survey for Ballito and surrounds at a breakfast function for Courier, Get It and Wordsmiths Marketing clients.

The survey is conducted every three years, and focuses on purchase decision makers in the home. The landscape survey spans 110 metropolitan communities across South Africa with a total sample of 27 468. Each community is sampled independently.

“The results are credible and reliable,” said Pieter Naudé of Wordsmiths, publishers of the above publications.

“It gives us insight into different markets, and how consumers behave in these markets so that we can understand business communities on a local level.”

The survey offers specific insights into the KZN North Coast and the nature of the community.

“The Ballito community still has as its core a very community-centric outlook. People trust their friends and neighbours and tend to copy their consumer behaviour,” said Naudé.

The survey revealed that The North Coast Courier has the highest readership of all weekly newspapers locally, with an average readership of 77 percent per issue.

“The Courier is more widely read today and more popular than ever before. Our success is the success of our advertisers,” said Naudé.

Following the Courier is the Sunday Times, with six percent readership per issue.

A fascinating insight, said Krog, is that many people read the same issue of the Courier more than once – 38 percent read one issue of the paper on more than one occasion.

The frequency with which people shop has changed since the last survey. Instead of a monthly shop, many people are now shopping twice a month or more.

“This is largely due to the close proximity of great shopping centres,” said Krog.

“Because of this change in behaviour, it is now even more critical to be present in consumers minds.”

Other salient insights were that people prefer receiving advertising inserts inside the local paper rather than delivered loose to the home. 84 percent of people read the inserts that come inside the local paper.

“In the current economic climate, people are planning their shopping rather than making impulse buys,” said Krog.

As such, businesses need to stay present in consumer’s minds by advertising consistently. She said people browse online to compare products and brands, but make their purchasing decisions while reading the local paper. A huge 91 percent of people said they use advertising in the local paper to help with shopping decisions, and 87 percent read the paper on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday before the weekend shop.

Interesting facts

– 29 percent of people surveyed bought something online in the past 12 months.

– 44 percent of people researched online before buying in the past 12 months.

– Ballito Junction and Ballito Lifestyle Centre are the two most popular shopping centres.

– 72 percent of people eat out at least once a month.

For more information on the survey, contact The North Coast Courier and Get It advertising representatives at sales@northcoastcourier.co.za.