Sales Strategy

Hey Big Spender! Who Are You? November 22, 2016 (0 comments)

New York, NY—With the National Retail Federation predicting a healthy 3.6% gain in holiday sales this year, retailers are ready and eager for the season. But the most important customers to drive those sales are not likely the Millennials every marketer is chasing. The heavy lifters are more likely to be older—both Gen-X and Boomer age.

According to the 2016 Consumer Holiday Shopping Report from NerdWallet, American shoppers plan to spend $657 on average this holiday season (the study did not break out luxury and non-luxury shoppers). But by age demographics, Gen-X (35-54) are going to spend the most (an average of $723), and Boomers (55+) come in a close second at $712. The 18-34 Millennial age group, meanwhile, is predicted to spend only an average of $499.

The “why” is pretty simple: the older consumers have more money.

NerdWallet also says 35% of Americans think Cyber Monday has better deals than Black Friday.

If your best customers are Boomer age, remember that people like to do business with people they know. According to this article on MediaPost.com, this is especially true of Boomers more than any other age group. It means all your brand touchpoints need to work together, because when Boomers do shop online, they still prefer doing so with retailers they know—and they expect the same level of customer service online that they’re used to in store.

Boomers also tend to respond better to email marketing messages than social media marketing. You don’t have to abandon your social marketing or any other plans that include different age groups, but if you want to get the wallet rich Boomers into your store, consider a few adjustments to appeal to them, such as smaller blocks of text with larger fonts for easier reading of your digital marketing.

Read the full Mediapost article here.

Top image: LinkedIn.com