Cost-conscious Ballito consumers seek specials

One-hundred percent of Ballito residents keep an eye out for specials when going shopping.

Whether it be in The North Coast Courier, via in-store pamphlets or through online advertising, everyone on the North Coast is looking to make the most of their money.

This was revealed as part of Roots 8.0, the 2023 edition of South Africa’s largest community survey delivered in March this year.

Results are based on independent surveys collected across 97 communities countrywide by TNS Research Surveys, which provide insight into consumer habits, including retail.

Although Covid-19 – listed as the largest concern in 2021 – is largely behind us, people remain conscious about the state of the national economy, specifically surrounding loadshedding.

This naturally translates into cost-saving measures, which are easiest to implement when buying daily and weekly essential groceries.

“I go through the catalogues looking at groceries and food and see what I think I need. I’ll go to a shopping centre and go to Clicks for the toilet paper and soap specials, and go to Checkers for the food and other groceries specials and so on,” said one Ballito survey respondent.

Frugal shopping has increased year-on-year over the past four Roots surveys, with 79% (2013), 90% (2016), 97% (2019) and now 100% of consumers planning their shopping around specials in 2023.

The number of residents who carried loyalty cards at stores grew from 69% in 2016 to 73% in 2019, and although that did not form part of the 2023 survey, it matches the upward trend of cost-saving techniques.

One Covid-19 era holdover is the increase in online shopping.

More than 20% of survey respondents indicated they started buying online during the pandemic and around 15% continue to do the majority of their shopping from home.

Compare this to the 2019 survey, where only 19% of respondents had bought anything online in the previous year and it points to an increase in technology use.

In-person shopping still dominates however, with the remaining group making most of their purchases in-store or through a hybrid approach.

Given the access to world-class malls in Ballito, this formed a large chunk of where residents end up going to shop.

More than 80% of respondents had visited a mall within the previous month, with Ballito Junction and Ballito Lifestyle Centre the two most popular destinations.

In terms of convenience food, almost every respondent (99%) admitted to buying takeaway meals, with 90% having done so in the previous month.

A popular town for eating out too, 87% of Ballito residents had eaten a restaurant meal in the past month, with 84% buying ready-to-eat meals at home.

Keep an eye out for future Courier editions, for both essential specials and further details about local consumer trends revealed in Roots 8.0.

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