Brixton Village/Granville Arcade indoor market, Brixton

[editor]

I make £3-4 and above purchases on a card regularly.

An awful lot of stall purchases are under £4, and it takes a lot more time to process a credit card than take the cash.

Have to say I haven't reached this 'royalty' stage of never carrying any money at all yet.

 

[editor]

What happened to the Brixton Market recipe book someone was going to put together to encourage Brixton Market shopping?

It faltered and faded. I was more than willing to stick it on BrixtonBuzz.

 

[ffsear]

Have to say I haven't reached this 'royalty' stage of never carrying any money at all yet.

If you genuinely want to discuss the future of Brixton market and how it can move forward, then you need to wipe that chip off your shoulder.

 

[editor]

If you genuinely want to discuss the future of Brixton market and how it can move forward, then you need to wipe that chip off your shoulder.

You've come up with this random notion that traditional market traders will suddenly start taking more money if they offer credit card facilities, based on your assumption that their target audience "tend to not carry much cash on them these days.'

Given that most fruit and veg sales are for very small amounts cash, could you now perhaps produce something to support these claims, and explain how adding credit card facilities will have any kind of meaningful and cost-effective impact for market traders?

I've no idea what this 'chip on my shoulder' stuff is about either.

 

[ffsear]

It was one idea, I never mentioned "target audience" They are market traders, their target audience should be whoever is there and whoever is spending money! If people are not buying fruit and veg, then your selling the wrong product! There's no shortage of people, that's for sure!

Its not 1930, people visit markets to see whats on offer!

move with the times! If i were a market trader i'd be jumping at this oppertunity provided by demographic change

 

[DietCokeGirl]

Card fees are expensive though, depending on the card and the bank - hense why many places have a minimum spend. Even so, iirc Mastercard's 35%on transactions makes it a difficult option.

 

[pissflaps]

until i can pay for skunk, hash, weed with my Visa Contactless, you can

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[cuppa tee]

This quote from the sales team at the soon come Oval Quarter [formerly Myatts North] http://www.higginshomes.co.uk/en-GB/developments/Oval Quarter/introduction maybe encapsulates the problem for the market in terms of the new demographic.

With the town centres at Camberwell, Brixton, Kennington, Elephant & Castle all close by, your weekly shop is more than covered.
If you’re cooking something special, the weekly farmer’s market in the grounds of St Mark’s Church is a delightful local gem,
while the earth-mother of London’s cosmopolitan street markets and arcades at Brixton is about as colourful an afternoon as you could spend.

ie the reputed colourful, vibrant nature is played up like its a tourist destination to go and gawp at rather than somewhere to get your shopping...... certainly in this neck of the woods the changing demographic is mostly marked by people scuttling home from work with a ready meal and drink in a tesco's carrier and of course the vans delivering online shopping of an evening.

 

[editor]

Card fees are expensive though, depending on the card and the bank - hense why many places have a minimum spend. Even so, iirc Mastercard's 35%on transactions makes it a difficult option.

Indeed. It's a daft idea for market traders who spend most of their day dealing with very small transactions, and sometimes having to deal with busy queues. Besides, loads of people still carry around enough cash to buy some apples and spuds in the market.

 

[editor]

This quote from the sales team at the soon come Oval Quarter [formerly Myatts North] http://www.higginshomes.co.uk/en-GB/developments/Oval Quarter/introduction maybe encapsulates the problem for the market in terms of the new demographic.

ie the reputed colourful, vibrant nature is played up like its a tourist destination to go and gawp at rather than somewhere to get your shopping...... certainly in this neck of the woods the changing demographic is mostly marked by people scuttling home from work with a ready meal and drink in a tesco's carrier and of course the vans delivering online shopping of an evening.

Oval Quarter.

 

[Rushy]

I don't see why it is such a silly idea. It won't change anything by itself but as ffsear says, it's just one suggestion of many potential changes which together might help reform the market stalls. Micro billing is becoming more and more common, the transaction fees are getting cheaper and the new contactless technology currently being introduced is fast and specifically designed for payments under £20. If the markets are going to rely on people buying just £1 of spuds that may well be part of their problem.

Not sure what is so royal about not relying on cash these days - this isn't the 50s.

 

[ffsear]

This quote from the sales team at the soon come Oval Quarter [formerly Myatts North] http://www.higginshomes.co.uk/en-GB/developments/Oval Quarter/introduction maybe encapsulates the problem for the market in terms of the new demographic.

ie the reputed colourful, vibrant nature is played up like its a tourist destination to go and gawp at rather than somewhere to get your shopping...... certainly in this neck of the woods the changing demographic is mostly marked by people scuttling home from work with a ready meal and drink in a tesco's carrier and of course the vans delivering online shopping of an evening.

So why not try to tap into that market? Are we more concerned about the livelihood of market traders? Or our preconceived ideas and prejudices of what Brixton should be?

If its the latter then forgive me for misunderstanding the point of this thread

 

[Winot]

I've no idea what this 'chip on my shoulder' stuff is about either.

It's a new contactless payment solution.

 

[editor]

I don't see why it is such a silly idea. It won't change anything by itself but as ffsear says, it's just one suggestion of many potential changes which together might help reform the market stalls.

What kind of increased profits do you think your average fruit and veg stall might make from investing in credit card facilities (after the commission and equipment costs are accounted for, of course)?

Not sure what is so royal about not relying on cash these days - this isn't the 50s.

So you don't carry any cash around with you at all. Not even when you're going shopping in a street market. Really?

 

[editor]

It's a new contactless payment solution.

I'm NFC. No Fucking Cash.

 

[editor]

So why not try to tap into that market? Are we more concerned about the livelihood of market traders? Or our preconceived ideas and prejudices of what Brixton should be?
If its the latter then forgive me for misunderstanding the point of this thread

I'm concerned about the livelihood of market traders. Aren't you?

 

[bosie]

I don't see why it is such a silly idea. It won't change anything by itself but as ffsear says, it's just one suggestion of many potential changes which together might help reform the market stalls. Micro billing is becoming more and more common, the transaction fees are getting cheaper and the new contactless technology currently being introduced is fast and specifically designed for payments under £20. If the markets are going to rely on people buying just £1 of spuds that may well be part of their problem.

Not sure what is so royal about not relying on cash these days - this isn't the 50s.

The traders could take the Brixton Pound, by text, as another option. It's relatively straightforward and could be a bit of a USP that might get them noticed.

Indeed. It's a daft idea for market traders who spend most of their day dealing with very small transactions, and sometimes having to deal with busy queues. Besides, loads of people still carry around enough cash to buy some apples and spuds in the market.

Although it could be argued that if the traders are spending 'most of their day' dealing with transactions, including dealing with 'busy queues', that their business is not being killed off anyway.

 

[editor]

Although it could be argued that if the traders are spending 'most of their day' dealing with transactions, including dealing with 'busy queues', that their business is not being killed off anyway.

I was careful to add the word 'sometimes', and those queues aren't always a sign of a flourishing business. They can just as easily be formed by a cost-conscious elderly person taking their time to individually select and analyse the potatoes they want to buy with their £1.20.

 

[ffsear]

Card transactions take 30 seconds at most.

 

[Dan U]

Card fees are expensive though, depending on the card and the bank - hense why many places have a minimum spend. Even so, iirc Mastercard's 35%on transactions makes it a difficult option.

Surely you have a decimal point missing here?

Point is true though. There is a reason why lots of small shops have minimum spend limits on card transactions of a fiver or so. When your margins are skinny, dropping even a percentage point or two can make a real difference.

 

[editor]

Card transactions take 30 seconds at most.

Because they always go through first time, don't they?

Meanwhile, in the real world:

Cash transactions 24 times cheaper for retailers than card payments
More people are paying for goods with cash than a year ago, according to new findings by the BRC.

Due to the high charges levied on retailers by banks - which the BRC described as "unjustifiable" - the average cost to a retailer processing a credit or charge card payment was almost 35p more than a cash payment. The findings also revealed that people are shopping more often but spending less each time.

Cash was used in 5.7% more transactions in 2011, accounting for 58% of all transactions. The average cost to a retailer processing this form of payment was revealed to be 1.5p, down 0.2p on 2010 as retailers "invest to achieve greater efficiency." The cost of a debit card transaction was 9.6p, while customers using charge or credit cards cost the retailer an average of 36.2p per transaction.

The BRC survey also found cash remains the quickest way to pay taking an average 27 seconds, compared with an average 36 seconds for a card payment.

http://www.diyweek.net/news/news.asp?id=15609&title=Cash transactions 24 times cheaper for retailers than card payments

 

[ffsear]

Because they always go through first time, don't they?

:

Er... yea, pretty much?

 

[cuppa tee]

Card transactions take 30 seconds at most.

Cash transactions take considerably less I would imagine

 

[ffsear]

Because they always go through first time, don't they?

Meanwhile, in the real world:

All that tells us is a massive 42% of transactions of are card! Thats a hell of slice to be missing out on!!

That's actually bigger then I thought! And it will continue to grow as payment methods evolve.

 

[ffsear]

Cash transactions take considerably less I would imagine

Does that include the queuing up at the cash machine? Its irrelevant anyway when people are carrying less cash for a fact.

 

[editor]

All that tells us is a massive 42% of transactions of are card! Thats a hell of slice to be missing out on!!

I really think you should read the post above and let it sink in a bit.

 

[editor]

Does that include the queuing up at the cash machine? Its irrelevant anyway when people are carrying less cash for a fact.

People are making more cash transactions. For a fact.

 

[TruXta]

What a massive red herring the cash v card thing is anyway. It's the goods/services on offer plus their availability and the convenience (or lack thereof) that'll attract or deter shoppers.

 

[ffsear]

SO? Don't ignore the fact that cash is being used less and less! -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...-in-fewer-than-half-transactions-by-2015.html

 

[ffsear]

What a massive red herring the cash v card thing is anyway. It's the goods/services on offer plus their availability and the convenience (or lack thereof) that'll attract or deter shoppers.

My point exactly!