Supermarkets for seniors

Austrian Adeg Aktiv Markt 50+ is walking the walk when it comes to catering for older consumers: its supermarkets for senior citizens offer everything from reduced-glare lighting and slip-proof flooring to wider aisles and easier-to-navigate parking spaces.

We all know by now that millions of time and cash rich consumers (read: baby boomers) equal a lot of opportunities. So why not just DO something for these consumers, instead of studying worn-out trend reports on boomer markets? Get inspired by Austrian supermarket chain Adeg, which launched Adeg Aktiv Markt 50+ in Salzburg 1.5 years ago, and added new stores in Salzburg and Vienna last year. To please and accommodate senior citizens, Adeg incorporated everything from reduced-glare lighting and slip-proof flooring to wider aisles and easier-to-navigate parking spaces. And the list goes on: reduced-height shelving, pleasant places to sit and signage and shelf markers in larger type are part of the deal, too. Stores also offer several cart and basket options, including a shopping cart that attaches to a wheelchair and another that has a fold-down seat for shoppers who might want to rest along the way. The produce display is engineered so that even a person in a motorized cart or wheelchair can select his or her own items. Shoppers can borrow reading glasses to check small print on labels or use magnifying glasses that are attached to shelves in some areas. Smaller packages of things like cheese are intended to serve households of one or two. Notably, all employees are over 50. Hey, if it works in Austria, it will work in the US, in Japan, in Belgium, and so on.

Opportunities

Aging and new goods/services/experiences? JUST DO IT. Whether you go for the ‘caring senior citizen’ approach like Adeg Aktiv Markt 50+, or for the ‘you are still young, a rebel, and entitled to luxury and comfort’ approach aimed at silver-haired, globe-trotting boomers, you can’t go wrong. Nuf said.