Ever wonder how your grandma can afford to give you so much money around the holidays? Well, according to a piece at The Business of Fashion, older consumers are becoming the focus of retailers around the world for the obvious reason that they willingly shell out more money than any other age group. By 2020, it's expected that the 60+ old-timers around the world will be spending upwards of $20 trillion dollars a year. That is a whole lot of guap, which is why retailers have begun focusing all their attention on them.
Selfridges has a new display called "Bright Old Things" where notable older figures in the fashion industry design their own window display for the store's London flagship. The basic fact behind this older consumer renaissance is that the group is growing faster than ever before. People are living longer and Baby Boomers are getting up there in age with money to blow. In the US, people over the age of 50 own 80% of the country's financial assets and account for about 50% of general spending. I just know that my mom and grandma love to buy new shit, like automatic blinds.
Retailers realize that older people love to spend their money and are making adjustments to help older customers shop as well. Things as little as better lighting to make labels more readable, wider aisles to help those less physically able and products placed at the right height for easy access can make all the difference when it comes to getting olds to swipe their plastic. Then there are efforts like "Silver Malls" in Japan aimed at the 65+ crowd with additional seating and more convenient parking, which are seeing some success. But the main strategy is one you hear when you visit Nana in her assisted living digs: treat 'em like regular people! Don't patronize them just because they're on the verge of death.
