An average of 143,767 consumers shop in the local market more than once per month.
But they don’t spend all of their disposable income here, which leaves room for additional retailers, and for local retailers to grow their businesses.
That’s the “gap analysis” message Casey Kidd of NaviRetail delivered to about 25 local business people who attended a seminar at the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday morning.
The City of Andalusia and the Chamber partnered with NaviRetail to provide retail analytics and consulting services for effective retail recruiting strategies. The Memphis-based economic development agency specializes in using data analytics for retail recruitment. Thursday’s workshop was designed to help locals understand the demographics and mindset of those who shop here.
Kidd said his firm used data from cell phones and credit card use to determine Andalusia’s retail trade area. It stretches from Enterprise to Greenville, Evergreen, Brewton and Florala. And those consumers spent $1.2 billion in other markets.
“The goal is to recapture that,” Kidd said. “If they’re having to go somewhere else to buy, you need to be selling that product.”
Data showed that the average household income in the trade area is $54,428, with an average disposable income of $44,557.
“In Mississippi, we would kill for this,” Kidd said. “These are big numbers, especially for a small town. These consumers have money to spend, they just can’t spend 100 percent of these dollars in Andalusia.”
In addition to demographics, the company pulls psychographics, to determine how customers spend money. They looked at 67 total segments of retail.
Local consumers are much more concerned with cost than quality, he said. Read More>