The senior economy has already reached a weight of 56% in the total sales of consumer goods in Spain.
This was revealed by a report ‘Family Segmentation: Future Consumers’ carried out by NIQ with data collected from its household cohort in 2023, the company noted this Friday. Members are 50 years of age or older responsible for buying consumer goods and are “the most relevant segment in terms of number and average cost.”
In particular, senior households with incomes above the average, comprising 5.2 million households – 28.6% -, spend an average of 3,409 euros per year on the shopping basket, which is 28 .7% of the total expenditure, while those with incomes below the average comprise 4.6 million households – 25.2% – with an average expenditure of 3,631 Euros (26.9%).
The agency pointed out that senior households with higher incomes “tend to be more traditional” in their consumption and purchasing behavior as a “significant” trend in the segment. “Their basket is characterized by the inclusion of fresh, traditional products that help maintain good health,” he added.
The rest of the families
In parallel, there are other “core” groups such as families with children under 18 years of age, which total 4.8 million families (26%) and contribute 31% of total spending in this sector.
Among these households, those with higher incomes spend “mostly” in national supermarkets (42.7%) and regional supermarkets (25%) and spend on average 60% more than the average Spaniard on consumer goods online channel.
For its part, one in five Spanish families are middle-aged families, that is, the age of the person responsible for the purchase is under 50 and they do not have children under 18, and this type of family contributes. 13 % of the total cost in the shopping cart.
Senior households are the least likely to spend online shopping in this category, accounting for 1.7% of sales for lower-median income households and 3% for higher-income households.
However, they spend more than the Spanish average in other types of channels, such as traditional stores or specialists, spending 20% ​​more than the average and 11% more for those below the average.
Cost control
In this context, NIQ Household Panelist Veronica Valencia pointed out that “the pivotal moment of Spanish households will set the pace for mass consumption dynamics in the years to come.” “Inflation has affected families with children more and older families less, and there will be more buying families, although different, the population is growing, but the weight of families with children will be lower, there will be smaller families, and that will change. Because of migration,” he added.
“Consumers exercise cost control, but do not give up valuable products and brands and choose channels according to their preferences and lifestyles, with more attractive power of the manufacturer brand in mature and high purchasing power segments”, he added. “Reconnecting with consumers is essential.”
Along with this, he advocated, “beyond price and promotion variables, it is also necessary to evaluate our long-term sustainable growth strategy that focuses on the evolution of consumer behavior.”
