Forget Generation X

Who are your customers? Like many of us in recent years I was focused on Gen X and on trying to understand what made them buy in store. These days however, I focus my clients on Baby Boomers and Millenniums as their real customers and I now advise that less focus should go towards Gen X.

This theory was supported with research carried out in the US and published in Buzz this month. I have included some of the text and the report below and it makes interesting reading…

“You have limited time and marketing budget to target the customers that will benefit you most. What demographic should you be focusing on? Folks in their 30s and 40s are NOT the demographic to target if you’re in retail, according to a new report by McKinsey. However, there are three demographics that will prove to be most advantageous to pursue. Those are:

Baby Boomers. The older generation (55 and older) is a source of big spending growth among several major categories, including food and housewares, according to McKinsey. This group controls 70% of disposable income in the U.S. and has money to spend.

Hispanics. According to the report, Hispanics will double retail spending in the next two years. Bloomberg reports that the demographic will spend $1.5 trillion on U.S. goods and services by 2015. Macy’s is appealing to the Hispanic market and has started offering more brightly colored clothing. K-Mart, too, launched a fashion line with actress Sofia Vergara. And Target will start carrying Mexican groceries in key markets.

Millennials. These folks (24-37) will account for one-third of retail spending by 2020, according to McKinsey. But they’ve proven to be a bit of a conundrum for retailers, the reports says. “Every store in the world is literally in Millennials’ pockets; they can hang out with their friends, sip lattes and shop online—all at the same time,” expert Robin Lewis wrote on his blog.”