Anatomy of a shopper
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Boomers have made shopping with cross-purposes a way of life. For retailers, where you build is as important as what you sell.
"The concept of Jiffy Lube crossed with a nail salon is actually not too far-fetched," says Mr. Underhill of the rise of complementary businesses. "I think you'll see it in the drug store market as people start recognizing that the way a Rite Aid wins out over the local Eckerd may not just be the fact that it's a Rite Aid, but what some of its neighbors are."
If consumers are more likely to be drawn out into social-experience shopping, they have not forsaken home, says Milton Pedraza, head of the Luxury Institute, which follows the practices of big-spending consumers.
One aim of such consumers, he says, is to transform their homes into enclaves - turning bathrooms into spas, pursuing quality goods and a rising number of pipe-it-in subscription services such as satellite radio and DVD delivery.
At the very high end they employ a rising number of "advocacy services." (Those are more specializedconcierge services that perform research around particular needs - in accounting, for example, or healthcare - and arrange appointments.)
"There is a trend toward relaxation, more holistic living as we get older," Mr. Pedraza says.
For many, holistic living also means buying with an awareness of how their purchases affect others. Some cite the rise of the so-called LOHAS movement - lifestyles of health and sustainability - as a sign that mainstream consumers are exhibiting more of that awareness, choosing to do business with firms that demonstrate an awareness of environmental and fair-labor practices.
Here, too, they are willing to pay more, even when doing so is not easy. The core of this values-driven group is comprised of 35- to 64-year-olds, according to the Natural Marketing Institute. Some 60 percent of them are baby boomers.
"They cannot be characterized as wealthy boomers," says Brent Green, who runs Brent Green and Associates in Denver. "When they say they are willing to pay 20 percent or more because of environmental sustainability, that's not necessarily financially convenient."
Nor do they represent a counterculture fringe. "Not when you're looking at 32 percent of all US adults," says Mr. Green, who adds that adding the consumer subset he calls "nomadics" - inclined toward sustainable purchasing but not fully committed - brings the total to some 100 million Americans.
"You wouldn't describe them as necessarily activist in the sense of 'save the whales,' " says Green, "but rather in their purchasing decisions and in their propensity to influence other people."
They direct their spending to The Body Shop, L.L. Bean, Celestial Seasonings - big companies with little-firm sensibilities. But big companies, too, pay attention to this crowd, another sign that shoppers of all stripes will experience their impact.
"GE is going green," says Green. "I can't say that they're internally aware of LOHAS, but I can say that they're aware of the impact of this market on their future."
