Cecilia Alva: Seniors choose premium and spend more

Consumers over 50 years old are key for the FMCG industry in Latin America. We talk about that with Cecilia Alva, Clients & New Business Director in Latam. In our latest conversation, the expert explains to us the growing importance of seniors for this market, what they like to buy and how they do it.

Although a lot is being said about millennials and centennials, the fragmented growth scenario of Latin America requires to pay attention to another generation: the one of seniors, or people aged over 50. Cecilia Alva remarks that, although they are not the most numerous group nowadays, demography will change drastically in the medium term, making them more important than ever.

“Despite being one in five households, seniors will increase to one third in a decade”.

When talking about the priorities and preferences of this age group, our expert points out their desire for connection and self-awareness. This is a generation that is conscious of its health and life quality.

“Seniors are looking for efficiency, quality and convenience in many aspects of their lives”.

If we analyse how all this translates into the shopping and entertainment habits of seniors, we can find some interesting trends. Elders make smaller trips and slightly less frequent purchases. They choose more premium brands and spend more in average, combining modern and proximity trade.

“Discounters are a relevant channel for seniors, compared to other value formats like cash and carry”.

Looking for opportunities, brands have a huge growth chance with seniors in several categories, such as personal care. All they have to do is targeting how to evolve their grooming routine through innovation.

“As seniors are conscious about balanced nutrition and good quality life, they pay attention to labeling and packaging”.

Finally, in terms of entertainment, Facebook and Whatsapp are the most popular connecting platforms among this age group. When thinking about their preferred topics, politics, health and tourism are in their top three.

You can also watch this video in Spanish