Consumer Markets

Penticton's Varying Consumer Markets

Penticton's Varying Consumer Markets

Penticton is situated in British Columbia, Canada’s most westerly province, known as “the Country’s business window to the Pacific”. The city is located in BC’s south-central region, known as the Okanagan Valley. The population of Greater Penticton is 43,300; the population within a 30-minute commute is 85,000. There are over 350,000 people living in the Okanagan.

The area has become a prime destination for residential and small business relocations. Penticton’s economy is based on agriculture (102 wineries are in the Okanagan Valley), tourism (1.4 million visitors arrive each year), manufacturing (85 companies are based here), and retirement (25% of the population is over 65).

In 2007, the tourism industry accounted for 4.3% of BC’s Gross Domestic Product.

With a thriving tourism industry that spans the four seasons, visitors to the Penticton increase the consumer population by 1.5 million each year.

Penticton is the regional service and market centre for the South Okanagan. It offers a wide range of services including professional, commercial, administrative, educational, and transportation facilities. For each of these services, different markets or trading areas exist, however, for basic analysis the following classifications have been developed along with the corresponding population base.

The residents of the primary trading area do most of their day-to-day shopping and rely almost exclusively on the services and infrastructure facilities available in Penticton. The driving distance does not generally exceed 20 to 30 minutes from the downtown area of the city. The population within a 30-minute commute is approximately 85,000 persons. It includes the residential centres of Naramata, Kaleden, Summerland, West Bench, and Okanagan Falls, as well as the other unincorporated regional and rural areas.

The residents of the secondary trading area rely on Penticton for larger purchases (appliances, automobiles and recreational sports equipment), as well as specialized goods and services. They customarily shop or do business on a weekly or monthly basis and are prepared to drive the 20 to 60 minutes to the city. The draw is primarily from the southern part of the region and includes Oliver, Osoyoos, Princeton and the rural areas. It is estimated that the trading area population is 110,000 persons. It should be noted that market area is dependent upon the type, scale of development and existing competition in the service or product line.

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