Segment Marketing of Ecommerce to Seniors

About 25% of older adults embrace the use of ecommerce, according to a University of Seville study. However, an almost equally large segment resist use of ecommerce, not as much because of enjoyment of visiting shops as because of low confidence in using a computer device. You’ll want to shape your marketing of ecommerce in different ways to these two groups.
     The fervent embracers of ecommerce depend on the internet for updates, so marketers should be sure what is posted is always the latest and is perfectly accurate. This segment of the elderly enjoys social networking, with the most common use being exchanges of message. Therefore advertise on platforms like Facebook and Twitter and encourage posting of reviews. These consumers enjoy a challenge along with a bit of risk. One thing this means is that gamification could work well. Another thing it means is that this group is receptive to ecommerce offerings like travel and food tourism.
     As for the ecommerce resisters, determine whether spending resources to change their minds is worthwhile. After all, there are advantages in having shoppers come to your brick-and-mortar sites and feel the merchandise. But if you do want to influence the resisters, they are most likely to be won over with systems that feature ease of use and the ability to reverse buying decisions. About 80% of this segment are women, so female oriented themes might be useful.
     I’ve particular confidence in making these recommendations to you because of distinctive features of that University of Seville study I use as a basis. With 474 survey participants, there was a relatively large sample size of older adults. The computer use explored was specifically ecommerce rather than other applications of digital technologies available to seniors, such as video games, self-checkout kiosks, or companion robots. The survey items used to develop the segments had previously been validated to particularly fit personality characteristics of older adults. And the statistical methodology—a latent class cluster model—is a sophisticated analysis tool equal to the task.
     Still, a senior’s decision to embrace or reject ecommerce use is determined by the situation as well as by personality characteristics. For instance researchers at University of South Dakota, Florida State University, and The Economist Corporate Network-Tokyo found that an earthquake can shake up habits. Japanese seniors experiencing the 2011 earthquake-induced Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster reported a subsequent drop in use of technologies.

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