The survey establishes retailers' opinion on how their businesses performed during the 2010/11 festive season after the 2010 FIFA World Cup; the climate challenges that restricted international travel during December 2010 period and the wake of an economic recession; whether they had noticed more South African tourists and holidaymakers in their stores; what their business outlook for 2011 is and their opinion on new or improved infrastructure created in the central city.
Many retailers had expressed a concern that the artificial 'high season' of the 2010 FIFA World Cup would result in poor returns during the 2010 festive season. The survey clearly indicated that the opposite occurred.
Field workers interviewed 198 retailers in 19 categories of which 55 (28%) indicated that they had better business results, 67 (34%) indicated no change and 76 (38%) indicated that business was worse compared to the previous festive season.
The retailers that experienced an increase in sales reported that profits were up by between 10-30%. Those who fared less well also reported an approximate 30% decrease over the same period.
"We found these results intriguing," said Gene Lohrentz of Geocentric Information Services. "So we decided to ask retailers why they had experienced an increase or decline in revenue. Although this was an open question to the retailers many provided answers of a similar nature."
Most retailers attributed their increase in sales due to more customers and higher sales. This is followed in frequency by retailers that experienced more tourists and/or a continuance of the positive influences of the World Cup. A similar number of businesses attributed the increased revenue to better marketing, advertising and promotions.
Those who experienced a decrease had similar reasons: the economic climate, fewer customers and tourists and no business after the World Cup were the top four reasons for the decline.
Interestingly, 58% of the retailers indicated that they experienced more local support for their businesses while a further 19% were not sure.
"During the World Cup, many people returned to the central city and were amazed at what had been achieved. The results of this survey show that these people are still choosing to come into town for their shopping," said Tasso Evangelinos, COO of the CCID.
This perception of the Central City is echoed by the retailers. The legacy projects, specifically public space, roads and pedestrian walkways and sidewalks all received almost unanimous approval from city traders.
The future looks bright as well, with 109 (55%) declaring that they expected business to improve for the rest of 2011. A further 52 (26%) expected the same level of business as they had experienced during 2010. Only 33 (16%) were more pessimistic, expecting a below average year and one respondent was not sure what to expect.
"There is great value in these surveys, especially in the year on year comparisons that we are now able to carry out," Evangelinos said. "I am confident that our central city retailers will continue to see improvements in sales, especially as Cape Town establishes itself as an events destination, bringing more and more people to experience our unique retail mix."
