There’s Gold in the “Silver Segment”

By Rieva Lesonsky

You know that baby boomers are a hot market demographic. But did you realize just how hot they are? According to a new report by Boston Consulting Group, Global Aging: How Companies Can Adapt to the New Reality, by 2032, the “silver segment” of consumers age 55 and above will be responsible for at least 50 percent of all growth in consumer spending in the developed world.

In the U.S. market alone the population age 65 and up is currently a $1.4 trillion market. By 2032, 50 percent of the U.S. population will be age 55 or older.

What does this mean to your business? Well, if you’re designing new products, you’d be smart to target this age group. The report offers some forward-thinking recommendations for companies hoping to attract aging customers to use their products:

• Today’s boomers are older, but don’t think of themselves that way. It’s important to design for someone who, while facing mobility, hearing or vision issues, still thinks of him- or herself as youthful.
• The 55-plus consumer of today is very tech-savvy already, but in 20 years, the 55-plus age group (basically, today’s Generation X) will be even more comfortable with technology.
• Older consumers prefer products that are “functional, simple, accessible, and convenient.”
• When trying to design products to accommodate physical limitations of aging, try to emphasize “special needs” in a positive way that doesn’t sound patronizing.
• Be aware of the different needs of seniors by age group. For instance, those aged 55 to 65 are likely to still be in the work force. Those in the 65 to 75 age group may be retired. And those in the 75 to 85 age group will likely have more mobility and health challenges.
• To see what tomorrow’s seniors will want, try doing market research with them today (in other words, with the 45 to 55 age group). This can help you determine what they might prefer as they get older.
• Keep in mind, however, that changing attitudes about aging make it unlikely future seniors will want to buy the same kinds of products their parents and grandparents did.

Image by Flickr user William Warby (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under Generational Marketing, Marketing, Small Business, small business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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