How Does Aging Change Canada’s Consumer Behavior?

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Consumers’ needs and desires are strongly influenced by their age. Everything a person buys is correlated in a way with how old they are. Besides the choice of the products themselves, age also changes buyer’s shopping habits in terms of frequency and it also has a great impact on the retailer choice and method of purchasing goods.

Young people, for example, are by far more used to shopping online than seniors. On the other hand, the elderly are a reliable segment for retailers who stick to traditional distribution methods and prefer to sell their goods offline, in supermarkets.

This is a topic of interest because Canada’s population is currently facing an increase in the older population. Therefore, we are going to analyze the matter of consumer’s habits from the perspective of a society that is prone to aging.

What Age Segment Is Taken Into Account?

Before we present several statistics-based facts, let us first determine what population we refer to by using the terms ‘senior’ or ‘the elderly’. Canada is one of the countries that has continuously registered an increase in the average person’s life expectancy, currently reaching an average of 82.3 years.

As life expectancy increases, so is the segment of seniors who purchase goods and services. By seniors, we generally refer to people who are 65 or above, as opposed to the adult population whose age varies between 18 and 64 years.

How Many Consumers Are Seniors?

Any analysis regarding buyers’ behavior includes parameters such as age, gender or location. Given that age is the key factor we are focusing on, it is essential to clarify what this segment represents exactly in relation to the overall population.

Today’s Canadian population sees increasing numbers of seniors due on the one hand to an improved life expectancy. On the other hand, the large share of the population represented by the generation of baby boomers (people born roughly between 1947 and 1966) is now a cause of the high number of seniors.

To get a better understanding of the aging matter Canada is now facing, take into account that by 2026, one out of five citizens is expected to be a senior. In other words, this segment will represent 21% of the total population, hence, 21% of the total number of consumers.

Is the Market Adapting to the Needs of Seniors?

The products supermarkets sell have been and will always be adapted to the needs of the population. Demand dictates offer and if there is an increasing demand on behalf of seniors, the offer is surely expected to grow.

There are many manufacturers who target their products toward a particular niche of the population. A traditional market, for example, is that of products created for babies and there are numerous sub-categories here (diapers, pacifiers, clothes, care products etc).

While the senior market might not be so abundant at the moment, products aiming to meet the needs of the elderly are expected to register an increase as the population continues to age. There are numerous necessities that can stem from old age. The existing products that already meet some of these are expected to see an increase in quantity and quality.

Senior buyers might not be so interested in purchasing clothes or cosmetics. However, they will surely need products that are meant to improve their life quality especially in people with chronic diseases or locomotor disabilities. Therefore, items such as a portable ramp, a wheelchair or walking canes are expected to see a rise in demand.

In the future, these types of products which are currently mainly sold in niche stores might even be present in stores and supermarkets that sell general consumer goods. As highlighted before, the population’s needs influence the market and what is being promoted there. Consequently, products for the elderly might gain a more prominent presence on advertising channels as well.

Additionally, there is a very wide range of products that will need to adapt to the exigencies of seniors. Here, we can include almost all the items a regular adult uses, from clothes and shoes to gadgets and skin products. All these already have models that are targeted toward the elderly (for example keyboards and mobile phones for seniors) and their numbers are expected to rise.

Are the Elderly Going to Change Their Shopping Habits?

Seniors are one segment of the population that remain loyal to the idea of traditional shopping. By this, we refer to direct purchases from grocery stores and supermarkets. These buyers are used to seeing the product before purchasing it. Nonetheless, as the elderly are getting more tech-savvy, they are also expected to adhere more to online shopping in the future.

As studies point out, our population is aging and the market will adapt accordingly. Subsequently, products for the elderly will be a larger niche in every industry and retailers will also devote more time and energy to providing goods for the seniors.