WA shoppers satisfied

 

Perth HarbourTown, factory outlet, An overwhelming majority of Perth consumers are satisfied with WA’s existing retail trading hours.

A study by Patterson Research Group for independent grocers revealed almost nine out of 10 (88 per cent) of metropolitan shoppers believe that current shopping hours are adequate for their needs.

The survey, undertaken in April, showed satisfaction with the current system was not influenced by gender, with 88 per cent of men, and the same number of women saying they were satisfied. Added to this, three quarters of those in the 18 to 39 age group were satisfied with current hours.

The study shows that four per cent of people wanted totally deregulated trading hours, and less than six per cent wanted shops to remain open for longer on weeknights and Sunday morning.

The WA Independent Grocers Association said the survey results underscore the difference between hypothetical economic arguments for deregulated trading hours, and the reality for everyday shoppers and retailers.

Association president, John Cummings, said the results were a damning indictment of unsupported claims by major national retailers and big shopping centre owners that consumers were demanding more shopping hours.

“Plainly this is not the case,” he said.

“If demand is really there, why aren’t we seeing the 95 per cent of retailers who can currently open 24/7 keeping their doors open?”

Cummings said the results flew in the face of the Economic Regulation Authority’s recent recommendation that trading hours be deregulated in Perth and country WA.

“We dispute the Authority’s recommendations which do not appear to be based on any substantial empirical evidence of the benefits,” he said.

Cummings said the authority should either conduct a full cost benefit analysis or drop the recommendation entirely from its final report to government.

“As we have seen elsewhere, deregulation will result in national and multinational retailers weakening and/or destroying their smaller competitors. The negative effects of deregulation would be amplified in WA as a consequence of the state’s rapidly cooling economy,” he said.

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