Wednesday, October 05, 2011

What Mature Consumers Want - new report from AT Kearney

This new report from AT Kearney concludes the most important finding in the study is that older shoppers do not think they are adequately served by marketers, retailers or manufacturers. Most comments focus on the difficulties they face, including the inability to navigate large stores, with too many hard-to-reach products on shelves that are either too low or too high. 

The following is taken straight from the report.

Product packaging is often difficult to open, and labels, prices and directions in stores are hard to read. Of the study’s participants, 52 percent in the 60-70 group, 58 percent in the 70-80 group, and 66 percent aged over 80 say they cannot read labels properly, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses.

Mature consumers also complain that most stores are not only understaffed but also that the staff on hand is not trained well enough to help them. Most respondents (63 percent under 70, and 75 percent over 70 say they would like to be able to sit down in stores.

On the whole, mature consumers want and expect a sympathetic understanding of the realities of age, but they do not want to be treated as old or elderly.

Older people enjoy shopping, not only as a necessity but also as a social and leisure experience. They shop often: Two-thirds of those aged 70 to 80 say they shop twice a week or more. They shop at different times, preferring to go on week- days, and relatively early in the mornings, when the stores are less busy. The older they are, the more they prefer smaller stores and shopping closer to home (68 percent), and the more likely they are to walk to the shops rather than drive or be driven. Proximity is almost always a main reason for choosing a specific store.

The next major development in marketing to older consumers is understanding the impact of physiological ageing on all of the customer touchpoints. Nice to see this major consultancy agrees. Dick Stroud

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