The German population is diminishing and, because of this, a generation is growing, too young to be put to pasture and too old to continue sauntering through life. It is time that businesses and industry took this target group seriously. By integrating the generations, convenience and comfort could become decisive factors.

You’re not that young any more, you’re not that hip and find that you’re not attracting the same attention as you used to: the ‘young oldies’. At the age of 55 or 60, you’ve left professional life and still have at least 20 active years ahead of you. You don‘t want to become a senior citizen and terms such as ‘Generation Plus’, which the age researcher Prof. Ernst Pöppel happily uses, don’t sound that pleasant to your ears. Then how about using the term ‘the 100 billion euro generation’?

This immediately sounds considerably better and above all is a fair description to use when describing your economic importance. Because at present the over 50s account for this amount of disposable income per year, as estimated by the Nuremberg Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK - Organisation for Consumer Research). Now it seems that somebody is taking this money seriously. Ernst Pöppel says ‘Industry and retail are simply ignoring this target group - it’s scandalous’. The 66-year-old neuroscientist is in charge of the Munich Ludwig Maximilian University’s generation research programme in Bad Tölz (Germany) and finds fault with the general focus on youth. ‘Because of the fear of being associated with the seemingly unattractive segment of the generation plus, the economy overlooks this generation’s enormous potential to provide high-spending customers. In actual fact, you would be amazed at how little consideration is shown to this financially strong clientele - in terms of shop design and also the range of products. This may be because young shop managers and trendy interior designers love cool chill-out lounges or minimalist interiors and only bear their own age group in mind. And because they believe that a clothes range in beige will do fine for the old people.

The success of this type of strategy is that the parental generation tends to avoid those unkempt looking businesses - knowing well that the deep ‘totally comfy’ armchairs will prevent a halfway dignified attempt at standing up for people over 40. Sadly, even if you still feel young, your spine, back and knees aren’t 20 any more. You don’t have to rest like an OAP yet, but a little snooze…sorry, espresso break is always welcome. And if a shiny chrome nail in the wall is the only furnishing in the much too small changing room, then you would probably rather not try anything on at all - and just leave the shop.

If you consider how little it would take to design shops for all generations, the current situation in many businesses is hardly understandable. Any experienced shop fitter knows that these days, the quality of any shopping experience for the active older generation is essentially a question of wellbeing. This means firmer cushions, higher seating, clothes hooks and space for all the bags, to name a few basics that can be implemented without too much inconvenience.

Comfort is the common element between the generations - no one is going to avoid a shop just because it’s designed to be comfortable. This could be more the case if the ‘comfort’ exudes the charm of an operating theatre - but then this would require fresh design ideas. A ‘senior citizen shopping center’ would be broke as soon as it opened because after all no one actually wants to be old but everyone does expect that consideration still be given to the mental state of those advancing in years.

I see much bigger potential for shopping centers that offer their customers the possibility of a ‘get together’ and through this becoming a social meeting point. This is not something that is only appreciated by senior citizens but also, for example, by young families or mothers with small children. All these people would appreciate sufficiently wide aisles and an intelligently presented product range.

Additional services such as shopping delivery could support the idea of comfort in the short-term even though the current ‘generation plus’ isn’t necessarily used to this type of service. Particularly when the growing internet retail is currently earning well with the convenience of shopping from home and the immediate delivery. In this case, stationary retail can only compete by offering a joyful and inspiringly pleasant shopping experience. It is also worth bearing in mind the aspect that people test and compare products with all senses and then leave with their purchases immediately - or get them delivered just in time.

The changes in a product range for the active older generations could also become interesting in the future. Many from these generations have already lived through their active and very mobile stages in life and look forward to being provided with the appropriate products in the future. Supportive functional clothing, breathable and perhaps odourneutralising garments could become fast sellers - and not just in beige and olive. The baby-boomer brands could again be held in high esteem due to simple nostalgia. This could also include technical products that are not primarily functionality based - and quite often even overwhelm the younger generation - but that are based on usability and clearly structured functions.

In generation researcher Ernst Pöppel’s eyes, it is now up to industry again. ‘Already 30% of companies are asking themselves whether the “generation plus” could be a new market for them’ comments the professor. Through his cooperation with the Far East, with Honda for example, he knows that the Japanese are thinking considerably further and are developing somewhat more user-friendly cars - and bearing the older generation in mind. Right now it is extremely short-sighted not to appreciate the older generations as consumers. In the medium-term it could prove to be fatal: it is estimated that every third German will be over 50 years old in the year 2050, according to the German Federal Statistical Office.

A contribution from Wolfgang Gruschwitz from Gruschwitz GmbH