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Research just out states that the average woman spends around 12 months of her life shopping. But how does this differ between generations and does she spend more than her male counterpart on fashion? Tracey Porter investigates.

Helen Bakewell is a tough woman to surprise. As managing director of full service retail consumer research company Directional Insights, it is safe to assume the busy mother of two had witnessed most human behaviour - in all its complexities - at some time or another.

Yet despite being at the forefront of human role-play even Bakewell was astonished to learn how closely many Australians connect to their local shopping centres.

Through the course of interviewing more than 20,000 shoppers over a two-year period for her report 'Shopping: A consuming passion', Bakewell found that today's shoppers saw their local shopping centres as the "new town centre" and increasingly wanted these to reflect their lives by inspiring a better world.

Bakewell, who launched the AMP Capital-commissioned report late last month, broke consumers down into five groups - Silent Generation (60 years and over), Baby Boomers (40 to 59 years), Generation X (25 to 39 years), Generation Y (15 to 24 years) and Millennium Babies (under 15 years). She says each demographic has very diverse shopping habits, all of which need to be catered for by retailers to ensure consumer loyalty.

While the silent generation were identified as the most loyal, they were also one of the lowest spending of all demographics spending on average around $50 in the average visit lasting just 68 minutes. Less than half of those surveyed had bought an item online. Generation X'ers, on the other hand, were found to be less time pressured and less loyal to individual centres. On average this generation stayed just 59 minutes per shopping centre visit but at an average of $89 per visit, spent the most of all groups.

Unsurprisingly the report also found that while baby boomers had lots of spending power they also had big debt too. Staying an average of 62 minutes per visit, this generation spent around $74 per visit and accounted for 43 per cent of the total spend in shopping centres.

For its part Generation Y were singled out as the most enthusiastic shoppers of all segments, staying an average of 59 minutes per visit and spending an average of $41 each time. Interestingly, only 26 per cent of this group have never made a purchase online.

Bakewell's report also identified three key trends driving the future look and function of shopping centres, dubbing these New Village, Better World and Customisation.

New Village signifies the need for a new, all encompassing community hub where shoppers could conduct "lifestyle business". The shopping centre of tomorrow would make available daily shopping and essential services, provide a range of entertainment options across age groups and fufil a "sense of local community engagement".

"Today due to the growing insecurity of the community, the free reign of children is becoming more limited. One of the locations that it has been limited to is within the confines of the safe environment of the shopping centre," the report noted. Better World will see shoppers seeking and acting on their own environmental and community responsibility through their purchasers and the retailers they engage.

According to Bakewell, customers are becoming more concerned about products with a health or sustainability benefit. These consumers take into account social, community and environmental outcomes in their product choices and are basing their purchasing decisions on a far broader range of factors other than the price of products. Customisation asks shopping centres to emotionally connect with customers, while servicing individual needs.
And what of fashion?

Bakewell says that when it comes to the types of fashion consumers are buying, nothing much has changed. Having offered respondents the choice of selecting from four different types of fashion: inexpensive everyday garments (such as that sold by Lowes, Millers, Suzanne Grae, Payless Shoes and Supre), mid-range fashion (casualwear such as that by Sussan, Portmans, Mathers and Just Jeans), Better-end fashion (examples include Cue, NineWest and Country Road, or High-end fashion (Polo Ralph Lauren, Saba and Lisa Ho), the vast majority (44 per cent) stated they mainly purchased mid-range fashion. Just over a third (34 per cent) purchased inexpensive everyday fashion while only four per cent claimed to purchase high-end fashion.

Bakewell says interestingly, women were slightly more inclined to purchase inexpensive everyday fashion compared to men. Men, however, were more inclined to purchased high-end fashion that women.

"Women are looking to fill their wardrobes with options, the more the merrier. Some men on the other hand have fewer pieces but are happy to spend a bit more on each item." The report also found shopping has become a "consuming" passion among Australians with the average woman spending one year of her life shopping for herself and her family.

"The report shows us shopping is a valid human experience, with people connecting emotionally with their local shopping centre. There's no doubt people have an enduring relationship with shopping that spans a lifetime. How shopping centres deliver through that lifetime and cater to the varying needs of women and men across the generations will contribute to their success," Bakewell says.

By Tracey Porter