In 2018, Roman Road Trust asked local businesses to complete a survey about the shopping and transport habits of their customers.

The aim of the survey was to gain an insight into the shopping and travel habits of visitors to Roman Road to see in what ways transport impacts the local economy.

 

What type of shop do you run?

The survey was completed by 153 local businesses. 138 of which were businesses/services with permanent premises and 15 were market stalls.

 

Do most of your customers…

Businesses were asked where they believed most of their customers live. Over 47% of businesses said their customers live locally to Roman Road and over 40% of businesses said customers live in East London. Only 10.5% of businesses said their customers live outside of East London.

What do you think is the MOST popular form of transport used by your customers to travel to your shop/stall?

Businesses believed the most popular choice of transport used by customers was walking/cycling.

What do you think is the SECOND most popular form of transport used by your customers to travel to your shop/stall?

The results show that businesses believed the second most popular form of transport used by customers was public transport.

What do you think is the THIRD most popular form of transport used by your customers to travel to your shop/stall?

The almost-equal response to this question suggests that businesses believe customers either walk/cycle to Roman Road or use public transport.

On a scale of one to five, how would you rate Roman Road in terms of visitor experience? Retail offer (variety and usefulness of shopping)

50 businesses rated the retail offer as good. No businesses rated the retail offer as excellent.

How would you rate the evening offer? (places to socialise, eat and drink during evening)

This question received a mixed response with the majority of businesses rating the evening offer as ‘fair’ and ‘good’.

How would you rate the street scene? (looks nice, pleasant to sit and spend time)

The majority of businesses rated the street scene as ‘fair’ and ‘good’.

How would you rate work solutions? (affordable desk space, office space, meeting rooms, ‘work’ cafes)

60 businesses rated work solutions as ‘fair’. 43 businesses rated work solutions as ‘good’ and 34 businesses rated it as ‘poor’.

How would you rate community spirit? (people know each other, friendly, welcoming)

This question received a positive response. 63 businesses rated community spirit as ‘good’ and 40 businesses rated community spirit as ‘very good’.

What do you think would encourage more people to visit Roman Road?

For this question, businesses could select up to two options. The most popular choice was making ‘parking easier and cheaper’ which was selected by 105 businesses. The other choices were equally popular apart from ‘better work solutions’ which was only chosen by 16 businesses.