Many Store Displays Going Senior Friendly

Retailers are looking at the long-term figures and taking notice. People have been aware for years that the baby-boom generation is approaching retirement age, but no one thought of the myriad affects it would have on the retail environment.

With an aging population comes a whole new segment of the market with huge buying power. According to an article released by NPR.org, "Within the next decade the number of people older than 65 is set to jump almost 30 percent." This has led many store designers and owners to rethink the way they market and sell. It's likely that, in the coming years, the market will see an increasing number of approaches and products geared more towards the senior crowd.


This isn't much of a shock. The market will always try and find ways to sell products to consumers but it's going to change more than just what's being produced. It's likely to alter the very style and function of many stores across the country. As many business valuations have shown, seniors require special consideration. For example, retailers have long employed shiny floors as a way to brighten up a store. However, some studies have show that older individuals find them disconcerting since it's often unclear if there's a spill or slick footing. Designers are already looking and ways in which they'll be called to accommodate the millions of shoppers that will be frequenting their stores in the coming decades.

The drugstore chain, CVS, has already begun to alter the look of many of their locations in order to stay ahead of the curve. They've lowered the counters and have put carpeting in many of their stores. Walgreens has also put in magnifiers on most shelves so shoppers will be able to read the print on labels and packaging. This is an obvious switch for drugstores given that a large portion of their clientele are elderly but we're probably going to see these same changes made in stores across the country in a few years time.

Though simple things like electronic doors have already begun to replace normal doors, they're not everywhere. We'll probably see these go up in every merchant shop everywhere but even things like displays are going to see big changes. Ads will likely begin using larger print and muted colors. It's going to be interesting to see the changes that occur as our market retools itself to appeal to a section of the market that has been, until now, largely ignored. Who knows what changes are going to happen in the coming years.