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‘Silver Surfers’ ignore tech-led shopping

By Retail Technology | Wednesday September 17 2014

Recent research has shown that older shoppers remain faithful to the High Street

While the physical and virtual worlds of shopping are increasingly merging, a recent survey has shown that shopping preferences are strongly linked to age.

The digital gap seems to be widening as ‘Silver Surfers’ continue to ignore tech-led shopping. In a survey of 2,044 people conducted at the end of August 2014 and commissioned by digital marketing company SmartFocus, only 15% of those aged 55 or older use their smartphone as part of their shopping routine.

Gen Y going strong

By contrast, Gen Y is embracing smartphone shopping. Almost two thirds of younger shoppers (61%) stated their online and physical purchasing habits are now more closely aligned. Nearly three quarters are using their smart-phone to browse, identify and buy more goods than previously.

Younger shoppers are more confident about exchanging their data for a more personalised shopping experience (61%) – and are three times more likely to do so than ‘Silver Surfers’. They’re also more responsive to digital advertising, with two thirds likely to buy something if they were sent an email or a text that included a discount code for that particular item.

Northern Ireland lagging

The nation-wide UK survey also found that Northern Ireland is lagging behind the digital curve, with its shoppers still preferring the High Street over digital shopping. They are alos least likely to use smartphones to identify and buy goods and least happy to receive discount offers via email or text.



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