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‘ECHO BOOMERS’ NEXT BIG DEMOGRAPHIC FOR GROCERS

Sure, the average supermarket shopper is still in her mid-40s. But a new generation, unbound by old conventions, waits in the wings.

While retailers do cartwheels tracking the spending whims of the affluent 76 million-strong baby boomer generation, that group’s maturing offspring, known as echo boomers or millennials, represent the future grocery dollar, industry experts say.

And yet, with few exceptions, most supermarkets are not courting these younger consumers, who number a substantial 71 million, aggressively.

In fact, teens and college-age people often see an obsolete model when they walk into their parents’ grocery store, says food-retailing consultant Willard R. Bishop Jr., president of Willard Bishop Consulting, of Barrington, Ill. “This is a younger generation that never saw a black-and-white TV but has seen an amazing amount of new technology and new developments in their relatively short lives,” Bishop said. “And a food retailer that isn’t ‘with it’ or contemporary is potentially looking like yesterday’s news to them.”

Such specialty and gourmet grocers as Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, Wild Harvest and Whole Foods are creating a health- or experience-oriented connection for younger shoppers. They are especially popular around college campuses, even though their shoppers’ ages tend to be roughly the same as the national average, according to the chains themselves.

In full bloom
But one pilot concept, Food Lion’s Bloom store, seems to appeal to tech-savvy shoppers who skew much younger. For the past year Food Lion has been testing Bloom, which is roughly the same size as the standard Food Lion, at five widely varying locales around Charlotte, N.C.

As Bloom patrons enter the store, they grab a hand-held personal scanner that they will use to scan purchases and keep a running tab as they shop. Messages on the scanners inform them of in-store deals or alert them when a prescription is ready. Kiosks provide tips on meal preparation and suggested side dishes. Home-meal offerings are located near the front of the store along with beer, specialty and energy drinks, and such everyday items as milk, bread and eggs. This is all part of what Bloom calls its intuitively designed Table Top Circle.

Bloom was not designed exclusively for younger shoppers, Food Lion says. But “we do find they seem to mix well with the concept … in part because they feel more comfortable with newer technologies,” said Jeff Lowrance, a company spokesman. The company is seeking ways to integrate the technology into conventional Food Lion stores.

The so-called echo boomers, the generation born between 1977 and 1994, have grown up with an instant-gratification consumption ethic, demographers say. “What marketers need to be doing is gearing up for this emerging generation with that in mind,” said Pamela N. Danziger, president and CEO of Stevens, Pa.-based Unity Marketing and author of Why People Buy Things They Don’t Need.

Initially, the older echo boomers (those approaching 30) will be seeking out bargains as they begin marrying and then stretching to meet the demands of their young families, while their boomer parents continue to drive demand on the upper end, Danziger says. “And that doesn’t leave much room in the middle,” she said. “It is either discount or luxury.”

In the past kids shopped where mom did, but computers, sports leagues, videos and DVDs, and other distractions have kept many of them from tagging along to the store. “This is a generation where the imprint of the mama duck is not as clear and true when it comes to shopping,” Bishop said.

Supermarkets can use technology and the Web to appeal to young people, but they can also strive to capitalize more on the grab-and-go mentality, says Bishop. “For example, anything you can bring up to the front of the store in way of popular nonalcoholic beverages, energy drinks and popular snacks that gives these kids that ‘zoom-zoom’ is a plus.”

Magazine offerings at checkout stands and scanner areas should be more cross-generational, he says. “Younger people are into entertaining and social connecting, and celebrities, too,” he said. “They wonder: ‘Is it going to be my mom’s or your grandmother’s magazine up here, or is it going to appeal to me?’”

Yet, the tailoring of grocery stores to satisfy both young adults and their parents can create logistical challenges. Stores that try to stock shelves and adjust lighting and signage to reduce physical demands for frailer customers, for instance, will have to find ways to keep the younger customers happy in the process, consultants say.

Less than 10 percent of grocery store shoppers are between 15 and 24, but more than 70 percent are between 25 and 64, according to Supermarket News, a weekly. Others have been quick to adapt to youth in hopes of creating lifelong brand loyalty, says Mary Pollack, editor and publisher of the monthly Supermarket Strategic Alert. Cell phone outlets, restaurants, and clothing and entertainment stores are among those reaching out to younger people in their music selection and atmosphere, Pollack says, but not many supermarkets.

“The reality is, the supermarket is the last place you see catering to younger people,” said Pollack. “True, you do see more prepared foods there now, which is good, but a lot of other people are selling food other than supermarkets, and they are selling it faster and more conveniently.” That alone may be reason for supermarkets to sit up and take notice — and to get with the times.

  — SM