Waterford Chamber of Commerce and the RIKON Research Group at WIT have begun the next phase of their research to establish the retail and hospitality performance of Waterford city centre.

"The population of interest involves City Centre Shoppers and for this phase of the research the RIKON Group is currently conducting on the street interviews at various locations in the city centre. We ask shoppers to take a few minutes of their time to complete the questionnaire with the researchers and assist with this important research which will help improve the retail offering for shoppers," commented Anne Marie Caulfield, Chair of the Waterford Chamber Retail & Hospitality Committee.

1500 surveys will be collected throughout the months of July, August and September. In addition, a further 1500 household surveys in the wider geographical area of Waterford will also be conducted over the next three months.

Explaining the background behind this research, Dr Patrick Lynch of the RIKON Group commented: "Earlier this year €50,000 was secured through the Enterprise Ireland Network Innovation Voucher Scheme to undertake research in Waterford City to investigate where people prefer to shop and their reasons for making that choice, their shopping experience in terms of quality and value, disposable income levels and their perceptions and attitudes towards pedestrianisation, parking and recent retail developments. The research will also discover the level of retail spend leakage from Waterford to other destinations."

Ms Caulfield concluded: "This research will deliver distinctive insights into retail performance in Waterford City and allow retailers, the Chamber and City Council to make informed decisions about the retail offering and what consumers actually want."