However, this made me think about the annual D&G questionnaire survey, which generates approximately 10,000 responses from customers who are happy to share opinions of their retail experience - in store and online. Importantly this enormous bank of information is not only used to identify the best brick-andmortar and internet independent retailers in the UK (which are suitably feted by D&G) but also gather invaluable insights into consumer purchasing behaviour.

For example, according to the D&G survey, 42% of customers go back to the retailers from whom they previously made a purchase (bearing in mind the D&G survey deals only with independents, the customers' first experience was better than average), while 35% of them choose the retailers on reputation or recommendation. Only 2.7% are influenced by advertising.

While selecting a brand, the customer first of all is guided by the brand's reputation (21% of responses), then by its value for money (19%), reliability (17%), features (12.2%) and price (11.8%).

This is an accurate reflection of the priorities of your customers. But perhaps not of the customers of Tesco or Currys. This takes me back to the issue of retail focus which I dealt with in this column a month ago. Your customers may constitute only 5% of the local market, but this gives you an opportunity to get to know them well - not only during their visits to your store but also using other forms of feedback (ie postal questionnaire surveys or emails). These insights maybe much more revealing than you could imagine and they could guide you like a compass in the months to come.

Anna Ryland, Editor

aryland@datateam.co.uk