35% of Suburbanites are Aged 45–64 with Money to Spend

Retailers Urged to Ditch Millennials in Favor of Older Shoppers. Retailers should stop wasting so much time trying to win over millennials because they‰Ûªre often broke. Instead, they should target older shoppers with more money to spend. That‰Ûªs a key finding from a report by Forrester Research Inc. called ‰ÛÏThe Future of Shopping."

"The bulk of consumer spending has shifted from those younger than 45, who now make up a smaller percentage of the population and are strapped with student loans, to those 45 and older, who have equity in their homes and bigger incomes," Spencer Soper wrote in Bloomberg Business.

The recommendation runs counter to retailers‰Ûª frenzied push to court millennials with new gadgets and fashion trends.

‰ÛÏThere‰Ûªs this obsession with millennials,‰Û said Sucharita Mulpuru, the analyst who wrote the Forrester report. ‰ÛÏThe truth is, millennials aren‰Ûªt spending any money with anybody because they don‰Ûªt have any.‰Û

"Retailers also need to stay lean if they want to be competitive in coming years," Forrester found. "The chains that are able to cut costs without compromising customer service will win," according to the report.

Suburban Retailers

"One example: Trader Joe‰Ûªs Co. The supermarket chain, based in South Pasadena, Calif., has fewer stores but better-trained personnel. That helps it get higher sales volume from each location while containing costs. Home Depot Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. also were praised for using self-checkout tools to reduce cashier expenses, freeing up employees to serve customers and stock shelves."

"Equipment that helps stores stay open longer without additional costs, including self-checkout kiosks, will help retailers gain an edge," Forrester found. "Those advances may ultimately make a bigger difference than other technology, such as beacons that use smartphones to detect a customer‰Ûªs proximity to a product and send them a coupon," Mulpuru said.

"Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers that rely on new stores for sales growth will have a tougher time. They‰Ûªll face more competition from e‑commerce companies such as Amazon​.com Inc., household-goods seller Wayfair Inc. and discount retailer Overstock​.com Inc.," according to the report. "Chains like Best Buy Co. and Toys ‰ÛÏR‰Û Us Inc., meanwhile, may have to close additional stores until they can make more fundamental business changes," Forrester said.

Many of these retailers have suburban locations, so it makes sense for them to target the suburbanites with the most discretionary spending capabilities. AudienceSCAN reports that 35% of consumers living in the suburbs are aged 45–64, fitting nicely into this target market. 41% of suburbanites bring home $50,000-$100,000, while another 17% are making at least $100,000 annually.

These suburban spenders enjoy reading and attending sports in person. They like bicycling/spinning for exercise. Sports and athletes, in general, are important to this audience. 56% of suburbanites try to support companies that sponsor a favorite sports team or athlete, and they are 129% more likely than average shoppers to STRONGLY agree that they do.

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the Audience Intelligence Reports inåÊAdMall.

Courtney Huckabay

Courtney Huckabay

Courtney is the Editor for SalesFuel Today. She analyzes secondary customer research and our primary AudienceSCAN research. Courtney is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University.