As the holiday season draws nearer, you’ll see them at malls and retail stores in increasing numbers: older people with long shopping lists. But people at or over the age of 55 are increasingly likely to spend money online, too.
In 2006, about 13.4 percent of the UK’s inhabitants who visited shopping or classifieds sites were in that age group, according to Hitwise’s Robin Goad. In 2007, that share jumped to 22.4 percent, and the numbers relating to every other category slid down as a result. In fact, only folks between the ages of 25 and 34 remain more likely to shop online.
Since older people tend to be wealthier than the young, this provides companies with a powerful incentive to target them, and Goad’s stats suggest that Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, and QVCUK.com have done well in this respect. Those companies’ Wikipedia entries suggest that they’ve done well overall, too.
The UK branches of eBay and Amazon seem to have succeeded with people of all ages, however, which is an even bigger accomplishment. Expect them to have especially good holiday seasons as a result.
