Retail study to target Launceston's CBD

Published on 12 April 2019

The City of Launceston has commissioned a study into Launceston's retail sector.

Retail expert and University of Tasmania Marketing lecturer Dr Louise Grimmer will survey Launceston businesses, shoppers and other key stakeholders to understand the drivers and barriers to shopping in the city.

City of Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said the aim of the study was to identify factors that traders in the CBD, shoppers and stakeholders consider to be important for encouraging - or alternatively, discouraging - shopping in the CBD.

"We know there's a great deal of anecdotal evidence to suggest retail spending in Launceston has been impacted by factors such as online shopping, so hopefully through this study we can gain a greater insight using an evidence-based approach to glean what those factors actually are rather that uninformed conjecture," Mayor van Zetten said.

Dr Grimmer said that the project - Shopping in the City - aims to examine the reasons why people choose to shop in the city centre of Launceston, as well as some of the factors that might prevent people from doing so.

"The project also seeks to gather information about improvements that could be made to the overall retailing and shopping experience in the CBD," Dr Grimmer said.

Dr Grimmer said that the research was important because retailing is an essential social, economic and cultural activity, and a strong retail sector makes a significant contribution to local communities and to local, state and national economies.

"Given that retailing is such a significant part of the economy and local shopping is very important for local communities, the findings of this study will have benefits for both local retailers and residents of Launceston," Dr Grimmer said.

Copies of industry-specific surveys will be delivered to CBD businesses over the coming days, while a public shopper survey is available on the Council's Your Voice Your Launceston website.