STORES Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 27)

The Boomer Has Two Faces It’s not a game of deception. The fact is that the first wave of boomers – those born between 1946 and 1954 – are very different from those born between 1955 and 1964. Older boomers know where they were when President John F. Kennedy was shot. They can recite the names of family and friends who fought in the Vietnam War and swap stories of war protests. Younger boomers came of age in the 1970s. All but the oldest missed Vietnam, turning 18 as the last helicopters were leaving Saigon. Watergate was a watershed event, and for many, the Iranian hostage crisis was the first conflict to stir patriotic zeal and political dissent. Think of it this way. Bob Dylan is the musical storyteller for older boomers; songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin’" are anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. For many younger boomers that mantle fell to Bruce Springsteen: they could see their own growth and maturation – from young and romantic 1 to disillusioned-yet-hopeful – reflected back at them in his songs. And the differences go beyond musical and historical rites of passage. For example, most older boomers are now empty nesters; only 14 percent still have someone under the age of 18 living at home, compared with 36 percent of younger boomers. Older boomers spend leisure time traveling and gardening. Among younger boomers, hours spent on sports fields eat up chunks of free time, and even much of the balance is spent on kid-focused activities. When it comes to shopping, labels are more important to younger boomers (44 percent) than the older segment (36 percent) – yet both cite Wal-Mart as their retailer of choice. oomer Project Buzz: Ignore these intra-generational differences at your own peril. Each group has a different frame of reference for decision-making, and those retailers that acknowledge the distinctions will cultivate customers and connections. B Single Income = Multiple Prospects One-third of baby boomers – some 25 million people – head up single-income households. Careful, though: that doesn’t mean there’s only one person in the household, just one less person. The average number of people in a single boomer’s household is 1.7; the average among married boomers is 3.0. Drilling into the specifics, 17 percent are divorced or separated, 3 percent are widowed, and 14 percent never married. The average age of a single boomer is 51, with the group fairly even- 2 ly split among men (48 percent) and women (52 percent). The big difference between single boomers and their married contemporaries is household income. Married boomers bring home an average of $73,380 annually; single boomers earn 57 percent less ($41,872). But when you do the math — dividing the total household income by the number of people in the household — the per-person totals are virtually identical. Knowing that single boomers can deliver as much revenue to a retailer as married boomers shakes up perceptions a bit. Moreover, the data shows that single boomers are much more likely than married ones not to have preferences for particular retailers. For retailers foundering in the current economic slowdown, a smart strategy would be to target these single boomers. It turns out that the higher the “no preference” score, the lower the rate of brand preference. In categories like men’s and women’s clothing, home improvement and prescription drugs, the opportunities are significant. oomer Project Buzz: Start marketing and promoting your retail establishment to single-head-ofhousehold boomers. Get creative – or steal a page from Home Depot, which recently featured a single mom in a TV campaign. Host a singles night at your store, complete with babysitting service. B WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / JUNE 2008 27 http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - June 2008

STORES Magazine - June 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Tesco Tests Carbon Labels What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Boom - or Bust Green Retailing Concept2Watch Online Marketing Building Traffic Water Management Branding Digital Marketing Loyalty Programs Special Report: Taking on Teens Supply Chain - Robo Crop Human Resources Supply Chain - Directory Assistance Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - June 2008

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