In our world of in-store theatre, with consumer-shoppers merely playing their parts during store visits, it might be useful to segregate them into seven ages for closer examination.
Given the increasing age-gap between older shoppers and those charged with meeting their needs, it might be useful to start with Segment 7, our older members of population.
By understanding the difference between their willingness and ability to buy, and taking into account the real factors determining their purchasing behaviour, it may be possible for suppliers and retailers to do more about optimising their store visits.
The following extract from Nora Ephron’s ‘I Remember Nothing’ may provide new insights…
“In these days of physical fitness, hair dye, and plastic surgery, you can live much of your life without feeling or even looking old. But then one day, your knee goes, or your shoulder, or your back, or your hip. Your hot flashes come to an end; things droop. Spots appear. Your cleavage looks like a peach pit. If your elbows faced forward, you would kill yourself. You’re two inches shorter than you used to be. You’re ten pounds fatter and you cannot lose a pound of it to save your soul.
Your hands don’t work as well as they once did and you can’t open bottles, jars, wrappers, and especially those gadgets that are encased tightly in what seems to be molded Mylar. If you were stranded on a desert island and your food were sealed in plastic packaging, you would starve to death. You take so many pills in the morning you don’t have room for breakfast.
You lose close friends and discover one of the worst truths of old age: they’re irreplaceable. People who run four miles a day and eat only nuts and berries drop dead. People who drink a quart of whiskey and smoke two packs of cigarettes a day drop dead. You are suddenly in a lottery, the ultimate game of chance, and someday your luck will run out. Everybody dies. There’s nothing you can do about it. Whether or not you eat six almonds a day. Whether or not you believe in God.”
Nora Ephron: I Remember Nothing
Given the increasing age-gap between older shoppers and those charged with meeting their needs, it might be useful to start with Segment 7, our older members of population.
By understanding the difference between their willingness and ability to buy, and taking into account the real factors determining their purchasing behaviour, it may be possible for suppliers and retailers to do more about optimising their store visits.
The following extract from Nora Ephron’s ‘I Remember Nothing’ may provide new insights…
“In these days of physical fitness, hair dye, and plastic surgery, you can live much of your life without feeling or even looking old. But then one day, your knee goes, or your shoulder, or your back, or your hip. Your hot flashes come to an end; things droop. Spots appear. Your cleavage looks like a peach pit. If your elbows faced forward, you would kill yourself. You’re two inches shorter than you used to be. You’re ten pounds fatter and you cannot lose a pound of it to save your soul.
Your hands don’t work as well as they once did and you can’t open bottles, jars, wrappers, and especially those gadgets that are encased tightly in what seems to be molded Mylar. If you were stranded on a desert island and your food were sealed in plastic packaging, you would starve to death. You take so many pills in the morning you don’t have room for breakfast.
You lose close friends and discover one of the worst truths of old age: they’re irreplaceable. People who run four miles a day and eat only nuts and berries drop dead. People who drink a quart of whiskey and smoke two packs of cigarettes a day drop dead. You are suddenly in a lottery, the ultimate game of chance, and someday your luck will run out. Everybody dies. There’s nothing you can do about it. Whether or not you eat six almonds a day. Whether or not you believe in God.”
Nora Ephron: I Remember Nothing
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