Boomers Like Shopping for These Things only In Person!
You probably know this, but I’m going to say it anyway: Baby boomers are the wonderful generation of people born between 1946 and 1964. This specific 20-year period comes right after World War II, and it saw an explosion of babies in a generation that ultimately defined the modern world.
The boomers came of age in a time of post-war growth, which also marked a rise of unprecedented affluence and prosperity. However, it was also in the pre-internet era. This also means that the baby boomer generation grew up enjoying the thrill of the consumer hunt. Now, as the internet has completely transformed the commerce landscape, many boomers still do most of their shopping in physical stores.
According to a recent study published in Forbes, two-thirds of baby boomer customers prefer buying products at the best price. Even more, boomers as a whole are quite loyal, and they make wonderful return shoppers.
These points, besides the historic buying and saving power of this generation, mean that many boomers shop entirely in person. As such, we should explore the ten things boomers are only shopping for in physical stores.
Groceries
Probably the biggest expenditure that boomers make relates to groceries. Anything related to food, whether we are talking about perishables or simply canned food, boomers are going en masse to the store to buy things. As per different studies, this generation buys somewhere around eighty-eight percent of its groceries in person.
In fact, according to one survey conducted by financial tech company Klarna, nine out of ten boomers between fifty-seven and seventy-five still shop for all their groceries at a physical location. Online shopping and grocery delivery services might suffer because this generation is still loyal to its physical grocery stores. Their reliance on self-checkout, however, is still to be seen.
Pharmaceuticals
Another big expenditure for boomers that’s oftentimes relegated to an in-person experience is shopping for pharmaceuticals. Even if there are currently many online services for filling prescriptions, as well as direct mail-order pharmaceutical companies, boomers are still ready to wait in lines (no matter how long) at the pharmacy for their medicine.
Or, to say the least, a good portion of them are making the physical trek. According to different surveys, almost two-thirds (or sixty-two percent) of baby boomers shop for all their pharmaceuticals in person. This also means that if you’re stuck in a long line waiting for your allergy medication, then probably this generation fills out the line in front of you.
Beauty products
While the price of beauty is often steep, if not completely unforgiving, this still doesn’t stop baby boomers from adhering to the pilgrimage. The third-most-physically-bought item on their list is beauty products. Whether we’re talking about concealers, serums, or any other elixirs, many boomers still want to feel those products in their hands before buying anything.
After all, can you blame them? According to a survey, 39% of baby boomers prefer buying all their beauty products directly from stores. Even if more than half have already tried making such purchases online at least once, there’s still a sizable holdout of boomers that would rather go to a store like Sephora than an online marketplace like Amazon (if you’re one of them, here’s a great anti-aging cream you might want to try!)
Home and garden
If HGTV rings a bell, then it shouldn’t come as a shock when we say that anything related to home and garden supplies is still being bought at physical stores in large numbers by boomers. Whether it’s a shovel, fertilizer, or even fashionable garden gloves, a large portion of boomers would rather wander the aisles of local garden stores to find what they need.
According to the latest surveys, the overall percentage of baby boomers choosing to get their home and garden supplies from local stores is around 38%. Just like beauty supplies, it seems like this generation would rather test out wares with their hands before committing to a purchase.
Apparel
Even if the whole majority of clothing shopping is relegated to online marketplaces, a sizable portion of baby boomers would rather buy their clothing and shoes in physical stores. Just like groceries and home and garden supplies, this preference makes more sense for clothing and shoes, which often need to be tested and tried on before buying.
As a matter of fact, according to a survey conducted by Klarna, 35% of boomers who are between 57 and 75 want to buy their clothing and shoes from physical stores. If you’re wondering who’s occupying all those dressing rooms at your local department store, you should expect to see a tenacious boomer.
Children’s products
Next up on the list of boomer habits targets children’s products. Even if most boomers are long past the age of having babies, a very small percentage of them still buy children’s products in physical stores. Whether it’s cribs, diapers, or any other children’s sundries, at least a couple of boomers would rather check out these goods in person.
It seems that the statistics are quite clear on this: 13% of baby boomers refuse to make any kind of decision when it comes to online purchases of baby products. This is probably the first big drop in percentage since, well, apparel, but it’s still worth taking into account.
Electronics
Just like home and garden supplies, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a portion of baby boomers still shop for electronics at physical stores. Electronic gadgets and gizmos might look really good in marketing pictures, but they often look and feel completely different in the palm of your hand.
And yes, when it comes to electronics, no less than twelve percent of them prefer shopping for their goods in person. This means that while almost nine out of ten boomers have managed to adapt to scrolling through technical specification tables on Amazon or NewEgg, there’s still one in ten boomers who want to hold a gadget before buying it.
Automobile parts and accessories
More than any other generation in American history, baby boomers love their cars. Whether they buy them, work on them, or simply want to show them off, there isn’t any generation with as much car pride as this one.
However, only some of them still buy automobile parts and accessories in person, which is very strange. According to statistics, only 12% of people still buy automobile parts like brake pads or motor oil from physical stores.
More than that, given how many boomer dads adore spending their weekends fixing up their old Corvettes, it’s still a bit of a shock that so many of them decided to switch to online purchases. However, at least one of them still ventures down to the auto store and talks shop for hours.
Jewelry
Another thing that baby boomers would rather get in person is jewelry. Whether it’s a pretty broach or a simple high school ring, a smaller but enduring segment of the baby boomer population would rather buy its bejeweled enchantments from a person they could talk to and not a webpage they have to scroll through.
This doesn’t come as a surprise, especially since jewelry is a high-ticket item that’s best authenticated with your own eyes. However, what’s truly surprising is that 92% of them decided to transition to bling-bling from the World Wide Web.
If you found this article useful, you might as well check out: I Saved $1,000 During My Last Trip. Here Is How!
