Are Retailers Missing a Trick?
The Bathroom Manufacturers Association (BMA) believes retailers could be failing to capitalise on possibly the most lucrative segment of the bathroom market – inclusive design for the 50s+.
More people than ever before are taking early retirement and looking forward to an active ‘third age’ of healthy, independent life after work. They are discerning and will make demands for new products and services, including luxury bathrooms.
According to Social Trends, the age group between 50 and 65 accounts for 80 per cent of the UK financial wealth with 80 per cent owning their own homes and spending more per week than any other age group.
The attitudes and aspirations of the Baby Boomer generation born after 1940 will force the pace of change and their desire for quality, user friendly bathrooms should not be regarded as a ‘special need’, but an emerging market opportunity brought about as a result of changing demographics.
Research conducted by the BMA in 2006 with professional carers and occupational therapists revealed that to ensure independent living we will require larger bathrooms to facilitate manoeuvrability, despite the fact that the majority of British bathrooms measure only 8×6 feet with just about enough space to accommodate the basics. This is where clever design and planning can make a real difference. Using inclusive design products could offer the perfect solution in these cases.
The research also highlighted the fact that consumers with particular requirements often find it very difficult to ask for what they need due to embarrassment and a lack of product knowledge or availability.
To help retailers in the quest of meeting the needs of the inclusive design market place, the BMA is developing a new Rate Your Bathroom fact sheet. The fact sheet ensures retailers and installers ask the right questions, thus guaranteeing the right product is sold and eradicating any awkwardness or embarrassment by posing a series of questions making the product selection process easier.
Speaking about the new fact sheet BMA Chief Executive Yvonne Orgill says: “Having worked very closely with occupational therapists we are aware that Industry needs to realise that it is not only severely disabled people who need to modify aspects of their homes. Many over 50s with debilitating conditions such as arthritis, waning eyesight and less strength also need to consider how they can adapt their homes to meet their changing requirements.
“Retailers have the opportunity to tap into a relatively untouched sector of the market. People who need to modify their bathrooms do not want to compromise on style and design and most often in later life have increased disposable income to spend more on their bathrooms than when they were younger.”
By 2008, projections suggest that almost 40 per cent of the European population will be aged over 50, while figures from the Office of National Statistics state that by 2050 the UK’s over 60s population will have grown 56 per cent, which means an additional six million people over the age of 60, including today’s 16 year-olds.
The baby boomer generation is set to revolutionise what it means to be old because their attitudes are so different to those of their parents and they are likely to be demanding and imaginative consumers of both products and services, seeking out information for themselves and refusing to be defined by their age group.
The BMA’s new Rate Your Bathroom fact sheet – to be launched at B&K Expo in May and then available from the website www.bathroom-association.org free of charge along with all other fact sheets – will ensure that both consumers and retailers are fully equipped to get the most out of purchase experience.
Also at B&K Expo, the BMA will host a workshop in conjunction with the extremely knowledgeable and passionate occupational therapist Kate Sheehan, to explain how we can overcome the awkwardness surrounding independent living and get the most out of this evolving marketplace.
The workshop will take place on Sunday 13 May at 13.45 in the Workshop Theatre and promises to open the door to new markets.
We look forward to seeing you there.
For further information please email karen.myles@bathroom-association.org.uk or visit www.bathroom-association.org
