By Katie Davis J ust as the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has kicked off in Las Vegas and it’s just as you expected from the latest electronics such as virtual reality, wearables and hearables. Everything smart; cars, homes you name it. Consumers are getting older in the U.S. and Canada for that matter. There are 106 million people in the U.S. who are over 50 and this group is having an impact on the sale of goods. If you were to measure GDP by the consumer spending of this over 50 age group, the economic impact by GDP would be $7.6 trillion and at the current rate that would be 42% of U.S. GDP and by 2032, which is projected to be $13.5 trillion. Let’s take a closer look at the purchase power of the over 50. This group is responsible for 46% of the U.S. GDP and only account for 33% of the U.S. population. Excluding healthcare, people over 50 contributed around
$3.0 trillion to consumer spending which is more than any other demographic.
So where does technology fit into all of these numbers, well by 2020 there will be 50 million caregivers in the U.S. alone with more than 115 million people in need of care giving. This means technology has to play a key role in meeting those needs. “We’re a consumer interest group looking for better ways to serve our clients and that boils down to technology,” said Jody Holtzman, Senior Vice President, Market Innovation, “We’re looking at the technology coming down the road that will help close the gap on their unmet needs - all the way from mobility issues to communications tools to healthtech. We’re asking one question to the technology and consumer electronics market: what’s your strategy for 50 plus?”
Something tells me that they are getting ready.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2017
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