Hi! Managers: Ageing people (and pets) offer new opportunities
As Tri Petch Isuzu Sales is a Thai-Japanese joint venture, I often go to Japan, mostly for short business trips. But my latest trip to Japan during the past two weeks was different, as I stayed there for half a month to assist my daughter - who had been a
April is the so-called “Hanami” season – which literally means “flower viewing” in Japanese, because the cherry blossoms are in full bloom – so the Japanese always arrange an outdoor party beneath the trees in the parks to appreciate the beauty of the renowned flowers, which blossom only once a year. I went to several parks during my two-week stay. There were so many dogs strolling around with their owners, especially couples in their late thirties or early forties, that it drew my attention as they seemed to outnumber parents with small children.
Japan has long been among the countries with the highest life expectancies and lowest birth rates. In recent years, its population has continuously declined as the number of married couples who don’t want kids has risen. Keeping pets has become more and more fashionable, and has enabled Japan’s pet business to boom. Not only are sales of pets, pet food and accessories booming, but the care business for aging pets is also flourishing, including 24-hour medical care, night-time emergency treatment, pet diapers, and a specially designed mattress for ailing large dogs to prevent bed sores. Various aging pet business advertisements can be seen on many kinds of media because numerous companies have created new product diversification for elderly pets in their final years.
As mentioned above, life expectancies are so high and birth rates are so low that Japan is considered a fast-aging society; the demographic data indicate that around one-fourth of Japanese are in their late sixties. More and more people are living alone in their twilight years, even in a big and busy city like Tokyo. A Japanese friend of mine told me that there were many reported cases of elderly Japanese who died in their houses unnoticed, a phenomenon that has sparked a corpse decomposition cleanup business. She showed me the website of a 24-hour cleanup specialty firm that had run this kind of business for several years, attracting more and more customers.
According to the United Nations, people who are aged 65 or older are expected to number 1.5 billion by 2050, up from 523 million in 2010. The power of this market cannot be overlooked.
The business impacts of the aging population – particularly age-friendly products and services – will become considerable. We have to explore new business opportunities offered by the growing number of elderly people and pets by taking the practices in Japan and other advanced countries as references.
We should view the exploding population of elderly people and pets as an asset and consider how best we can create new business opportunities in numerous fields like nutrition, healthcare, technology and so on since both people and pets are now living longer, which requires a new way to look at them.
Panatda Chennavasin is the vice president for Corporate Strategies and Corporate Relations of Tri Petch Isuzu Sales, as well as the senior vice president for Overseas Marketing of Isuzu Operations (Thailand). Her column is published on every third Wednesday of the month.
