IN THE tough retail climate, more players are using demographics and psychographics to draw in customers and make them spend.

Directional Insights has undertaken a study which shows who, when and where people shop.

The research reveals the average customer spends 85 minutes in a shopping centre and buys $74 worth of goods per visit.

Nearly two-thirds of customers are categorised as mission shoppers, while the rest are leisure shoppers, says Directional Insights' Consumer Benchmarks for Shopping Centres study.

Managing director Helen Bakewell, drawing on the results of 22,000 interviews with customers aged 15 or more, said the survey found the resulting profile of the average shopper at a regional centre (average age: 43) and that customer groups were nearly evenly split between families with children and shoppers without children.

"Households with families account for 52 per cent of customers, while Sink/Dinks (single and double income, no kids) account for the other 48 per cent of customers," Ms Bakewell said.

"Collectively, these groups comprise shopping centre purchasing power that accounts for more than half of Australia's total retail sales of $170.5 billion (including GST) and creates demand that fills 36 per cent of all retail space."

The survey found that the top three occupations of customers were professional/managerial 21 per cent, home duties 15 per cent and retired/superannuated 15 per cent.

Furthermore, 84 per cent of customers drive to the centre; 65 per cent visit weekly or more often; 63 per cent are mission or purposeful shoppers and 37 per cent are leisure shoppers.

Carolyn Cummins