Abstract：Since 1990s, hypermarkets have dramatically developed in China and become the winning format in fast-growing retail sector. Because of their different characteristics of self-service, shopping environment, market segment and spatial distribution, with the fast growth pace of this retailing format, there is ongoing revolution in urban commerce and consumption. They changed not only traditional retailing structure, urban commercial space, but also the consumption behavior of citizens. Therefore, more and more related research emerges, some of which concentrate in business management, marketing strategy, location and distribution of hypermarket, while others put emphasis on consumer behavior such as symbol perception and recognition of habitants to supermarkets, chain stores and shopping mall, the transformation of consumption concept of family, and determinants of store choice of hypermarket shoppers.
In the context of reconstruction of retailing, the paper focuses on shopping behavior of hypermarket shoppers in Shanghai, the most developed commercial city in China. According to statistics, there have been 83 hypermarkets in 2003 in Shanghai with 15.4% average growth rate annually, and moreover, they account for 8.9% of total retailing sales revenue. Based on questionnaire survey and field investigation, general and temporal-spatial characteristics of shopping behavior are summarized:1) Most citizens make their purchases in hypermarket with high frequency compared with western counterparts and long shopping duration compared with supermarkets and convenience stores. In terms of shopping period of the day, consumers prefer shopping at night; 2) Shoppers go to hypermarkets mainly on foot or by bike, and are often companied by family members. The percentage of utilization of private cars is rather low, though most of hypermarkets offer free parking area; 3) Compared with traditional retailing formats, the traveling distance of hypermarket shoppers are longer than that of wet market shoppers but shorter than department stores shoppers. In other words, the shopping space of low-class commodities is stretched and that of high-class commodities is compressed by hypermarket. Moreover, the spatial range of hypermarket shopping activities depends on different types of commodities. 60% shopping activities of food, which represents ‘centralized shopping space’, highly concentrate within 1.3km, while the centralized shopping space of daily article and electric appliance turn out to be 1.8km and 2.2km. respectively. Meanwhile, 90% shopping activities of food, which refers to ‘basic shopping space’, extend to 3.7km, while the corresponding range of daily article and electronic appliance extend to 4.6km and 3.1km. The basic shopping pace of electronic appliance in hypermarket is compressed by specialized stores, which distribute with high density across urban area. Besides, the distribution of hypermarkets and other retailing formats around residential location lead to various percentage of hypermarket utilization of citizens. More residents living in the fringe of inner city shop at hypermarket than those living in downtown area.
陈零极, 柴彦威. 上海市民大型超市购物行为特征研究[J]. 人文地理, 2006, 21(5): 124-128.
CHEN Ling-ji, CHAI Yan-wei. THE STUDY ON SHOPPING BEHAVIOR OF HYPERMARKET SHOPPERS IN SHANGHAI CITY. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, 2006, 21(5): 124-128.
