# Consumer mobility and shopping mall visitation data from smartphone tracking in Johannesburg, South Africa

## TL;DR

This paper presents a dataset tracking consumer visits to shopping malls in Johannesburg using smartphone data, offering insights into shopping behavior and spatial patterns.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel dataset capturing detailed consumer mobility and socio-demographic patterns in a South African urban retail context.

## Key findings

- The dataset includes 87 million mall visits with spatial and socio-economic variables.
- It enables analysis of how distance and socio-demographics influence shopping behavior.
- The data supports research in consumer behavior and urban retail planning.

## Abstract

This dataset, sourced from Fetch Analytics, captures observations of consumer visits (n = 87,204,056) to three major shopping malls in Johannesburg, South Africa, from January 2022 to December 2023. The dataset collected using smartphone signal tracking provides insights into consumer behaviour. Key variables include mall name, visit frequency, distance travelled from origin (home) to destination (mall), and socio-demographic indicators such as gender, age, income, and Living Standard Measure (LSM). The dataset allows for granular analyses of how spatial and socio-economic factors influence shopping patterns in a fragmented retail landscape. This dataset is valuable for researchers investigating consumer behaviour, spatial economics, and urban retail planning.