Srcg wake-up: Is growing older something we should focus on or is it just a fact of life?

In the Olympic fervour that has gripped our nation over the past 16 days you might be forgiven for having missed the report on the BBC this past week around the fact that the over-65's now number more than the under-16's and that the over-80's are now the fastest growing sector of the population.

For the first time in the country's history we now have an aging population that is starting to dominate the statistics. Scientific data suggests that the average age of someone born in 2050 will live to push past 120 years old.

So what? I hear you ask. This could be the biggest 'So What' in the history of retailing, the changing demographics of this nation will lead retailers to succeed or fail in more diverse ways than ever before.

As an industry it is key to understand the answers to two questions, firstly does the fact someone is getting older lead to a change in their shopping habits and secondly how do we engage and interact with shoppers of a more elderly profile.

The answer to the first is as simple as it is complicated, the initial premise is of course yes; the answer to how we engage and interact could easily take a whole book as opposed to a brief article.

The abridged version would suggest that the shopping habits of the more elderly population change for three key reasons; time (the retired person, in normal circumstances has more time on their hands), financial wherewithal (once full-time employment ceases the main change is typically a decrease in income) and taste (the tastes of people mature and evolve over time, otherwise we would all still be drinking Thunderbird and eating Flying Saucers, although not at the same time one would hope!)

The desires and needs of those entering this phase of their life are not currently being addressed with any particular forethought from the big retailers and suppliers, those we typically expect to spend lots of money on shopper and consumer research. Is this perhaps because they cling to the belief that the key is to capture a shopper whilst they are young in the hope they will stay with them for ever? If so this is misguided at best; shoppers are more promiscuous than ever before and it is the elderly that are leading this change because they have the time and the inclination.

The big challenge is to avoid creating 'elderly' stores in the way am/pm created the ladies only stores in Japan. This will not work for this segment of society, their overriding need is to have all stores and manufacturers recognise the importance of them as shoppers as opposed to having a store designed solely for them.

The needs of this elderly segment of shoppers are both product and environment based. In terms of products there is an increasing awareness of the importance of eating good quality food and enhancing the diet with supplementary products. There are a number of dietary aids that profess to enhance the lifestyle of the more mature members of society and the growth in the 'Superfoods' and drinks has not passed them by.

Their interest in the store offer combines the products that don't harm them with those that do them good as well as the products they have bought into for a longer period of time and that are key to their continued engagement with the store and product profile.

The environment of the store needs to engage without being too 'overwhelming'. In a wholly unscientific piece of research undertaken as background to these words, the majority of elderly shoppers questioned expressed a desire to shop in stores that were not too big.

The stores that resonated with them the most heavily fell in the mid sized 10,000sq ft range. The other elements that were extremely important were an enhanced level of service and interest from the people working in the store. Sadly, for some, the interaction with the cashier may be the only verbal contact they get in a day and it is important to them that they are recognised and a level of small talk and chat is available if required.

Additionally there is an increased level of interest in local or British product with a loyalty to an area far exceeding the average across all age profiles. Whilst promiscuous to a degree there is an enhanced level of loyalty to those retailers and manufacturers that get it right.

A small investment in time and resource spent evaluating the profile of your shoppers will payback many, many times over. Looking at what the more mature shopper finds important and working to meet their needs does not need to be an algorithmically complex piece of econometric modelling, it can take place as a refresh of the store or product offering. The rewards of capturing the 'grey' pound are great and to date no one has shown a particular appetite to focus on this diverse and growing segment of society.

The only reason for this lack of attention must be the perceived view that this segment differs little from the rest of the market and deserves little attention. This view is erroneous in the extreme and leaves an untapped opportunity for those that do have the foresight to focus on these shoppers and this segment.