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Latest IRI
Baby Boomer Report reveals $50 Billion
growth opportunity for CPG Industry
IRI Study uncovers how recession, age-driven
lifestyle changes and health issues are
impacting Baby Boomers
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Representing half of total
U.S. spending power, baby boomers are one
the largest demographics in the United
States.
The oldest among this group are now 63 years
old, and their purchase patterns are
shifting as they approach retirement age.
The latest IRI research, “Baby Boomers II:
Preparing for the Upcoming Wave of Aging
Shopper Growth,” examines the broad range of
baby boomer lifestyle changes and identifies
top-indexing food and non-food categories,
recession-driven shopping patterns and key
opportunities for private label and health
and wellness products.
“Each baby boomer segment will experience a
broad range of lifestyle changes in the
coming years that will dramatically change
where they shop and what they buy,” says IRI
Consulting & Innovation President Thom
Blischok.
“Many retailer strategies today assume that
boomers are a homogeneous group, and, as a
result, their strategies are too general to
be effective.
"The
IRI report will help retailers understand
current and future spending shifts of the
different boomer segments across categories
and channels.
"This
approach will also help retailers develop
strategies that effectively segment the
boomer population in specific markets and
meet their changing needs.”
Channel and Category Insights
Baby boomers—Americans born between 1946 and
1964—are a very large consumer segment with
an age range that spans nearly 20 years. IRI
breaks the group down into LBJ (aged 34-43),
Kennedy (aged 44-52) and Truman Boomer (aged
53-62) segments to capture their distinct
cultural experiences, current lifestyles and
attitudes.
The following is a glimpse of channel and
category insights found in the IRI report:
When consumers age into their 60s, they shop
more frequently and a greater share of their
total CPG spending is done at smaller format
stores, including drug stores and dollar
stores, at the expense of grocery, mass and
supercenters.
For instance, Truman Boomers make 15 trips
to drug stores annually versus 11 trips by
LBJs.
Food preferences also change with age.
Truman Boomers lead the way in categories,
such as snack nuts/seeds/corn nuts, ice
cream/sherbet and chocolate candy.
However, consumption is lower than other
boomers for cold cereal, salty snacks and
frozen pizza.
Across major beverage categories, it’s clear
that shoppers in their 60s prefer
non-carbonated drinks, which causes them to
make trade-offs, such as consuming less beer
but more wine and spirits and drinking more
coffee than soft drinks.
Aging shoppers rely heavily on many
over-the-counter (OTC) products, such as
vitamins and gastrointestinal tablets but
purchase less personal items, including
deodorant and shampoo, than their younger
counterparts.
"Boomers are being impacted by a number of
current trends,” says IRI Consulting &
Innovation Senior Vice President Sean
Seitzinger.
“The various boomer micro-segments are being
impacted in different ways and are making
their own distinct choices.
"Today’s
retail and CPG community must work hard to
understand the unique opportunities being
created by this large and diverse consumer
segment.
"Different
micro-segments will define the market growth
opportunities in health and wellness and the
next generation of products and brands.”
Shopper Attitudes: The
Economy
The current recession is also having an
enormous financial and emotional impact on
baby boomers. Many have seen their personal
wealth and disposable income drop
precipitously, forcing many baby boomers to
postpone retirement and some previously
retired boomers to re-enter the workforce.
Additional economic insights include:
Aging shoppers are most concerned with
“immediate personal impact” areas of the
economy, including price of gasoline (72
percent), home utilities (70 percent) and
food costs (77 percent) versus home value
(41 percent) and access to personal credit
(16 percent).
Across all boomer segments, fewer than 25
percent have cut back spending on
essentials, such as food, beverages and
household cleaning supplies.
In contrast, they have pulled back spending
significantly on discretionary. purchases,
such as auto care (52 percent) and
entertainment (51 percent).
More than 85 percent of all boomers still
make unplanned purchases.
Private Label Performance
Even after the economy begins to recover,
private label growth is expected to continue
well into the next decade for boomers
entering their 50s and 60s. A few highlights
from IRI research include:
83 percent of Truman Boomers vs. 70 percent
of Kennedy Boomers say store brands are of
excellent quality. At the same time, 79
percent of the younger LBJs like store
brands.
66 percent of Truman Boomers buy store
brands instead of name brands.
Truman Boomers purchase more private label
bottled water, ice cream and snack nuts than
younger boomers.
The propensity to buy private label in food
and beverages does not carry over to nonfood
categories, including OTC medications.
Health and Wellness
As boomers age into their 60s and 70s, a
growing number of shoppers are adjusting
their diets to manage a range of ailments,
such as high blood pressure and diabetes,
and there is a growing concern about their
weight. Attitudes about health and wellness
include:
84 percent of Truman Boomers eat for
nutrition versus 79 percent of Kennedy
Boomers; 61 percent of Truman Boomers eat to
manage a specific health condition versus 46
percent of LBJs.
When compared with meals and snacks, aging
shoppers place less emphasis on finding
healthier options in beverages.
Older shoppers consider organic to be a less
important attribute in maintaining good
health.
“The IRI report offers fact-based support
for impactful boomer shopper segmentation
and other initiatives that retailers can
implement across both traditional and
non-traditional retail channels,” adds
Seitzinger.
“Retailers who leverage these new insights
about baby boomer segments will reap the
benefits with new center store growth.”
About the Report
“Baby Boomers II: Preparing for the Upcoming
Wave of Aging Shopper Growth” is a
culmination of research that includes an
exclusive IRI AttitudeLink survey of
shoppers, proprietary IRI InfoScan®
and Consumer Network® data.
For detailed information about the
research’s availability and pricing, contact
Sean Seitzinger at
sean.seitzinger@infores.com
About IRI
IRI is the world’s leading provider of
consumer, shopper, and retail market
intelligence and insights supporting 95
percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 consumer
packaged goods (CPG), retail and healthcare
companies.
Only IRI offers the unique combination of
integrated market information, automated and
predictive analytics, innovative enabling
technologies, and domain expertise.
With IRI, leading retailers and
manufacturers are able to quickly discover
breakthrough insights driving smarter
decisions and actions across the enterprise
for breakthrough results. Companies around
the world depend on IRI for improved
productivity, stronger brands, and dramatic
revenue growth. For more information, visit
http://us.infores.com.
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