Recent Caxton research, ROOTS, has shown community newspapers, in print and online, are one of the most important information sources for helping shoppers with shopping decisions like what to buy, at what price, and where to buy it.

Shoppers use many touchpoints across the physical and digital domains in their shopping journey, and advertisers need to make the most of all of them. One size fits none.

The research, which is done every three years, samples communities countrywide. There were eight Pretoria communities included in the study, from Centurion to Soshanguve.

The research covers a multitude of lifestyle and shopping questions across various categories, including groceries, home and tech shopping, banking, expenses, loyalty cards, and education, to name a few.

Lynne Krog, Spark Media’s head of research, unpacked the research for advertisers of Rekord in a function held on January 28 in Pretoria east, sharing the insights that drive Pretoria shoppers and consumers.

ROOTS is done to help advertisers understand their markets and how they can use community newspapers to reach those markets at a geographically specific community level.

The study has been ongoing for 20 years. Pretoria research represented eight communities. The 1 700 adults interviewed in these communities represent about 687 000 adults over the age of 18 living in 299 000 homes.

Krog said the communities were sampled independently, which means you can look at each of them on its own or collectively. “As with media, it is important for advertisers to understand the differences between local markets so they can nuance their marketing accordingly.”

The research also showed that Rekord, with its distribution in print as well as online, reach 720 000 readers every week.

According to the findings, 59% of the respondents indicated that they actively use a local paper when making shopping decisions. This is up from 47% in 2022.

“Respondents indicated that they are increasingly making decisions on what to buy and where to buy goods and products before they are going to stores. Printed advertising that gets into the home, as well as in-store pamphlets and online searches, are being used to meet their needs within their budget and to stick to their brand preferences,” Krog pointed out.

She explained that in 2022, 10% of consumers shopped for food and groceries on impulse. Now only 5% shopped on impulse while the rest plan ahead with information at hand.

The research was done in depth in various categories. If a Pretoria snapshot can be taken, it shows Centurion has the highest percentage of homes with a monthly household income of R35 000 or more, and 74% of the respondents like to do their shopping in major malls. The monthly expense paid by most people is funeral cover. A total of 52% respondents have invested in such a product.

If a closer and more personal snapshot is taken, respondents indicated that Vodacom is their top cellphone provider, 12% of respondents bought jewellery over R1 000, 19% visited a beauty salon, and 42% used a hair salon. For both men and women, Mr Price has been the top clothing retailer for the past six months.

When it comes to shopping patterns, a total of 64% of respondents prefer to buy toiletries with their food and groceries. Menlyn Park remains the favourite big mall shopping destination, with Menlyn Maine in second place.

Respondents indicated they are shopping around a lot more across many categories, banking included, driven by a wider choice of shops and a need to find the best deal.

Of the respondents, 52% live in secure estates. Pretoria’s love for animals is reflected in the figure of 68% of the respondents owning pets. A fibre connection is important, with 50% of respondents having such a connection.

Krog pointed out that “education is big business in Pretoria”.

Most of the respondents in Pretoria east are leaning towards private education and showed the biggest uptake (51%) in private education.

Krog remarked that a new worrying trend is the surge in online gambling in less affluent areas in Pretoria, with gamblers spending their money on slot machines and sports gambling.

When it comes to online shopping for food and groceries, the Checkers Sixty60 service from an app has made inroads with respondents indicating that only 34% of them still only shop in-store. In Soshanguve and Mamelodi, the preference for online delivery service groceries is for the ASAP-online service Pick n Pay.

In the health sector, weight loss and such products are popular in Pretoria, with Centurion as a frontrunner to buy these products. In the far east, more than 60% of respondents indicated that they regularly buy supplements for health reasons.

She pointed out that when it comes to home shopping and appliances, there is a growth in the percentages of respondents shopping for small appliances with online buying, and buying from supermarkets or hypermarkets is growing.

“Shoppers in this category buy where they can find the best price on the brand that they want. Brands are taking back their power,” believes Krog.

Also read: Pretoria residents petition ‘crippling’ rates hikes, ‘unlawful’ levies

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