Supply Quality Time to Senior Shoppers

Last spring, a total of 2,947 respondents in 23 countries—all respondents at least age 60—were surveyed by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney for their Global Maturing Consumer study. This older population carries growing profitability potential for retailers. Their number is increasing about 2.6% annually, compared to 1.2% for all ages. The rate for ages 80 up is increasing about 4% yearly.
     The Global Maturing Consumer project did not include a representative sample of all people in the age ranges 60 years and above: About half the surveys were conducted in shopping environments, ranging from street markets and small stores to hypermarkets and shopping malls. There was an overrepresentation of people with above-average incomes and of consumers in developed countries.
     I view these biases in sample selection as adding to the value of the results. As I see it, retailers should be especially interested in how to influence consumers who are out shopping with ample money to spend and live in areas with a richness of product choices. Another indicator of opportunities for you is that a prevailing view among the respondents was that senior shoppers do not think they are being well-served by the retailers they’re doing business with now.
     Here are shopper psychology recommendations I’ve based on the Global Maturing Consumer report blended with other findings about this population:

• Aim for weekday morning hours. Older consumers consider shopping to be a social experience. They want to have the time to talk with salespeople and with other shoppers. For most retailers, this works out better at weekday morning times, since the store is less busy. That’s fine, too, for the older shoppers. They are more alert in the morning.
• Offer multifunction products. Seniors are more likely to have limited storage space and to be concerned with spoilage. The older they are, the more likely they are to walk to shopping sites or take public transit on which carrying large bags can be a bother. They buy fewer items but are willing to spend more per item than are younger shoppers.
• Limit promotions to high-quality brand-name items. With advancing age comes difficulty in reading ads, signage, and especially product labels. As a result, older consumers come to depend on brand reputation. About 43% of the Global Maturing Consumer respondents said they would consider buying promotional items only if the quality is as good as what they habitually purchase.

Click below for more:
Help Seniors to Shop Early
Set Healthy Margins on Multi-Solution Products
Emphasize Emotions with Older Consumers
Downsize for Elderly Shoppers