Retail Services
Premier Retail Marketing is a leading mainstreet consultancy that aims to guide your city centre, mainstreet or town centre toward success by applying the best practices and experiences from around the world. The company has been engaged by Councils, Trader Associations and businesses in Australia and overseas to assess their mainstreet dynamics with the goal to improve the performance of businesses, reduce vacancies and guide the mainstreet to achieve sustainable outcomes that benefit the whole community.
‘Develop the business mix in your mainstreet or retail precinct to meet the needs of customers’
The business mix of a Mainstreet or City Centre provides a unique point of difference that sets it apart from the competition. Identifying gaps and opportunities in the business mix is critical for future growth and sustainability of your mainstreet. Attracting independent hospitality, retail and professional services requires a collaborative effort from property owners, leasing agents and Council to work towards a strategic plan to create an authentic offer for customers.
Retail Strategy
‘Develop strategies to create a sustainable mainstreet’
The basis of a Retail Strategy is desk research and supporting on-site analysis. Premier Retail Marketing is experienced in developing retail strategies for mainstreets and city centres. Understanding customer segments and the offer that competitor centres provide is a key part of any strategy. A full analysis includes customer catchment areas and the opportunities available for growth. Our reports always include actions and progress steps to ensure that improvements can be measured and successes recorded.
Business Engagement
‘Engage with your businesses and property owners’
Developing well structured long and short term marketing plans tailored to your retail precinct or mainstreet will ensure increased customers and improved environment for businesses. Delivery of these plans requires a proactive partnership between businesses, property owners and Council. Overseas case studies reveal that Improvement Districts have achieved meaningful involvement through a business ballot where businesses commit to deliver the business plan with the option of renewing their support or withdrawing it unless major changes are made. Almost 95% of Improvement Districts have been renewed for continuing successful delivery.
Business Mix
‘Develop the business mix in your mainstreet’
Premier Retail Marketing has developed a a full set of analysis tools over many years of delivering mainstreet, town centre and city centre projects. David passionate about mainstreets and is always looking at mainstreets that are performing at their peak and others that are performing poorly. The business mix is a key factor in your mainstreet customer attraction power. Is your mainstreet serving a convenience or destination function. The character and identity of your mainstreet or precinct in the eyes of the customer is a critical factor in its success or failure.
Marketing
‘Develop marketing and promotional plans’
Shopping centres are highly visible with their marketing and promotional plans. Why are they continuously promoting their centres when mainstreets often cannot maintain the necessary exposure to potential customers? David has developed marketing plans for smaller locations and large shopping centres including the launch of Marion and the marketing of Rundle Mall. David can develop a strategy using customer and market segments to gain the best results.
Governance
‘Create a best practice governance model’
Mainstreet governance is a critical factor in the success of a mainstreet or town centre. New models of place management are proving to deliver a better environment for customers and businesses. We specialise in this critical area of private and public sector alliances. Shopping centres are very successful because ownership and management is obvious. In a mainstreet property owners and businesses need to brought together in a collaborative partnership to get the best results. The governance model must be transparent with clear measurable goals. The private must involved in planning, delivery and measurement. The best governance models operating currently are called business improvement districts and I am a major supporter of BIDs having seen them at work in the UK, USA, NZ and Singapore. More about BIDs on the Home Page.
Retail Report Card
‘Start an independent assessment of 4 key areas’
The ‘Retail Report Card’ provides Councils and their business communities with a snapshot of the current state of their mainstreet or town centre. The Report Card provides an overview of 4 key areas: mainstreet governance, mainstreet marketing & promotion, mainstreet business mix and mainstreet streetscape. The results can be benchmarked against other Australian mainstreets and opportunites for improvement can be identified. The next step is to develop action sheets that define key actions and areas of responsibility for the public and private sector.
What management model suits you?
‘Find the best Governance Structure for your retail precinct’
David has extensive governance and management experience. He has worked for private companies like Westfield, he has worked with a Committee of Council structure and a semi-autonomous management structure. He established the Rundle Mall Management Authority as a Subsidiary of Council that operated successfully from 2008-2021 and was modelled on successful business improvement districts he researched at the coalface overseas.
Public Speaking
‘Engage retailers / Educate Staff’
David West speaks with passion about retail, mainstreets, governance, marketing and business mix. He can deliver presentations to your retailers or business association to harness their support. David can expand on key topics such as chapters in his Mainstreet Management book, his overseas contacts with high streets and city centres and how the best mainstreets achieved their success through business engagement, planning and best practice delivery.
Contact David
Contact David to discuss how we can deliver services to meet the needs of your retail precinct, mainstreet or city centre.
Photo Credits – Piccadilly Circus – Heart of London
Philadelphia – M. Fishetti
Christchurch Tram – Christchurch NZ
Ebenezer Place – Maras Group
