No. 6: The senior market is growing rapidly with the progress of the aging society (February 22, 2012)

Consumer behavior

With the progress of aging of population, the annual consumption expenditure of the senior generation (older than 60) increased 2.4% over the preceding year to exceed 100 trillion yen in 2011 for the first time in history in Japan. It accounted for as much as 44% of total consumer spending in 2011, reflecting tireless consumer spirits of the senior generation. Travel agencies responded quickly to this trend. Kinki NihonTourist launched a travel pack exclusively for couples of the senior generation, and H.I.S. started a service to set people above 65 free from cancel charge on a certain conditions.

Fitness centers added another service to the regular menu. Central Sports that has a network of 160 fitness centers across the country set up a day service facility to provide seniors in need of mild nursing care with training using Tablet PCs to prevent mental deterioration. Although members in their 20s and 30s decrease visiting frequency, members above 50s stay almost the same in visiting frequency. KidZania that offers services to let children have the same experiences as adults introduce a new fee structure. Visitors above 60 can ride as many attractions as they want for 5,200 yen per day, 500 yen lower than for adults, to allow them to enjoy attractions with their grandchildren. It has become rather critical for companies concerned to analyze the consumption behavior of the senior generation.

No. 5: A new marketing approach of a shoes company to collect customers (February 21, 2012)

Market trend

ASICS, one of Japan’ leading athletic shoes makers, will launch a new service within the year. The new service is to provide each user with information on his best shoes. A user sends his marathon training plan on the company web page My Asics, and the company collects detailed information on his training. Based on the analysis of his ability and level, the company sends information on his best shoes by e-mail. The service is free of charge. The company plans to expand the service worldwide and increase the users to 1 million in three years.

The user sends such information as gender, age, training frequency, as best marathon time via the web page. The company analyzes the characteristics of each user and sorts out the best shoes for him. ASICS has more than 100 kinds of running shoes on its lineup and wishes to promote its products by suggesting the best shoes for each user. The accumulated information and data will be utilized for the development of new products.