Scotch Corner Designer Village is a designer outlet village, now under construction at Junction 53 on the A1(M) in North Yorkshire. An extensive online consultation was run by ConsultOnline.

Online consultation was deemed a necessary part of the consultation because of its ability to reach a wide geographic and demographic profile quickly and efficiently, to target the young as well as the old, to convey information through a variety of means (visual, verbal, audio, video), to bring about positive dialogue, to enable people to communicate at a time and place of their choice and to produce reliable data.

ConsultOnline had period of six weeks in which to complete the online consultation. The scheme’s website, www.scotchcornerdesignervillage.com included questionnaires, polls, forums, blogs and the option for users to post images. Information was available as text, video, images, documentation, email updates, Vcards, Googlemaps and a blog. The service was monitored 24/7 – enabling ConsultOnline to become aware of, to understand, and to correct misconceptions immediately; and for those taking part to receive a quick response. A user guide provided step-by-step advice in addition to terms and conditions.

The website was promoted through Facebook and Twitter: ConsultOnline posted on a wide variety of local organisations’ Facebook pages and blogs and established useful contacts via Twitter.

On its first day, the website attracted over 700 unique users and over the next six weeks, over 3,500 hits.

ConsultOnline provided comprehensive analysis and reporting using Google Analytics, WordPress data and other web-based tools including heat-mapping, which featured in the consultation report.

Over two-thirds (77.88%) of users accessed the website using mobile and tablets and 27% of hits were returning users. Almost half (49%) of users found the website via social media; 36% accessed it directly and 13.5% through an organic search.

Demographics revealed that 33.5% of the users were in the 25-34 age bracket, followed by 27.5 aged 18- 24, 15.5% aged 35-44 and 11% aged 55 +. Men were slightly more likely to take part in the consultation than women (54.15% and 45.85% respectively).

A poll on the website’s home page revealed that 92% of those who registered supported the development of Scotch Corner Designer Village.

Comments received both by email and on the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website focused on a range of topics including the traffic impact assessment, the nature of the shops provided, the possibility of renting office space, sustainability initiatives and parking for disabled people.

Comment was also generated through forums on issues including preferred café / restaurant chains, the popularity of a crèche, preferred designers and whether the scheme should include a play area