The Rise of Silver Hair Economy in Low Line Cities: "Middle and Elderly People in Small Towns" Worth Attention
2023-08-28
In traditional cognition, the younger generation is enthusiastic about trying new things, with a stronger willingness to consume, and companies are more willing to invest in young consumers. Even when it comes to the layout of the silver haired economy, companies tend to focus more on the wealthy and leisure urban silver haired population, but often lack attention to the middle-aged and elderly population in third tier and below cities. However, with the acceleration of population aging, the silver economy in lower tier cities is rapidly rising, and the once overlooked consumer group of "small town middle-aged and elderly" is showing significant consumption potential. According to the data, 55% of Tiktok e-commerce consumers come from small and medium-sized businesses, among which the elderly in small towns are one of the core user groups of small and medium-sized businesses. In the sinking market, the online consumption ability of people over 40 years old has been increasing year by year, with 68.4% of them consuming over 1000 yuan per month. In March of this year, in the consumption trend report released by Tmall, the proportion of "middle-aged and elderly people in small towns" in multiple scenarios such as health preserving kitchen appliances, home renovation, food and beverage, outdoor travel, and smart products exceeded 20%, ranking alongside labels such as "new white-collar workers", "town youth", "urban silver hair", and "exquisite mothers", becoming one of the new consumer groups that businesses focus on. The release of consumer demand for middle-aged and elderly people in small towns is inseparable from the accelerated penetration of the Internet and the improvement of infrastructure such as logistics. In the past, middle-aged and elderly people in small towns relied more on offline shopping, benefiting from advantages such as buy on demand, face-to-face transactions, clear money and goods, and convenient after-sales service. Traditional supermarkets, farmers' markets, and town markets were their top choices for consumption. However, as more and more middle-aged and elderly people integrate into digital life, the consumption concepts of middle-aged and elderly people in the vast sinking market have quietly changed. Offline shopping has outdated and single styles, with some elderly products priced higher and some even unable to find a way to purchase. Online shopping has just made up for these shortcomings and provided more diverse choices for middle-aged and elderly people. The emergence of services such as "use first, pay later", "low price group buying", and "freight insurance" has accurately dispelled their concerns; The comprehensive rural logistics network has stimulated the enthusiasm of middle-aged and elderly people for online shopping, driving their shopping channels to transition from offline dominance to both online and offline emphasis. The report shows that in August 2022, the monthly active user scale of silver users reached 297 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%, which is significantly higher than the average level of the entire network. Among them, the contribution rate of the sinking market to growth reached 60%. The sudden rise of middle-aged and elderly people in the town reflects the strong vitality of the "town economy". In China, the sinking market includes nearly 300 prefecture level cities, 2000 county towns, 40000 townships, and 660000 villages, except for first and second tier cities. Nearly 70% of the population lives here, with a total of about 1 billion. The huge population base is attracting more and more industries to make efforts to "sink", and exploring the development potential of the "small town economy" is an important direction to expand domestic demand and seek incremental growth. As the main gathering place for the silver haired population, the middle-aged and elderly in small towns are definitely a consumption force that cannot be ignored. How to better meet the consumption needs of this group requires enterprises to immerse themselves and delve deeply into it. For example, middle-aged and elderly people in small towns often pay more attention to cost-effectiveness, and shopping decisions are greatly influenced by acquaintances. The shopping process relies more on live streaming to comprehensively display products, and merchants' after-sales service
Edit：Hou Wenzhe Responsible editor：WeiZe
Source：economic daily
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