Targeting the elderly

China’s over-65 population is projected to almost double by 2030, and by 2050 may exceed the total population of the United States. By then there will be half a billion Chinese over the age of 60.

While this presents a real problem for the Chinese government in terms of funding elderly care programmes and pensions, it means great opportunities for businesses selling to the elderly – whether it is healthcare, nutrition, entertainment, travel or leisure.

 

Market size attractive

It’s not that China’s growing numbers of elderly citizens are particularly affluent – the average monthly pension for an urban resident is a little over 2,000 yuan, or about Bt10,000, less than half the average wage of an urban worker. Rather, the sheer size of the market makes it attractive – sales of goods and services for the elderly are projected to reach 106 trillion yuan by 2050, up from 4 trillion yuan in 2014, according to the China National Working Commission on Aging’s “China Report on the Development of the Silver Hair Industry”. 

Major companies, both foreign and local, are increasingly targeting the elderly with a wide range of products. For example, researchers at Abbott Laboratories in Shanghai are testing nutritional drink flavours; Kimberley-Clark is advertising its adult diapers on TV and online; Alibaba offers a senior shipping section on its Taobao Marketplace for products like slippers and long underwear; Nestle provides free health-check stations for seniors to check their blood pressure and cardiovascular health in retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour; and Hisense last year launched a senior-friendly smartphone featuring easy-to-access flashlight and medical-help options. 

The number of elderly-focused products and services in the financial, travel and entertainment sectors is also increasing. 

Given that many elderly Chinese are extremely frugal and reluctant to spend money on themselves, a popular marketing strategy is to target the elderly’s adult children, who have a great sense of responsibility for taking care of their parents.

 

Comparison with Thailand

It’s interesting to compare marketing to the elderly in China with what’s happening in Thailand, where those over 60 currently make up 13 per cent of the population, with the number of Thai senior citizens increasing by 500,000 a year.

While there are many products tailored to the elderly, my sense is that Thai companies are not as engaged with this market segment as their Chinese counterparts. 

A lack of imagination may be holding them back. Only last year the Industrial Promotion Department called for more Thai companies to focus on the elderly, not only at home but also in other Asean countries. Opportunities cited included beds and rubber mattresses, rubber gloves, lenses, canes, wheel chairs, water faucets and doorknobs and bolts – not the sexiest of products!