Thrive not just survive – Healthy retail
About
In May 2022, we launched an exciting two-year project – in conjunction with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Healthy Ageing Challenge and Stirling University – to transform how the retail sector sees and serves older consumers.
ILC research Maximising the Longevity Dividend published in 2020, revealed that older consumers spent £319 billion (54% of all UK consumer spending) in 2018 – increasing to £550 billion (or 63p of every pound spent by consumers) by 2040.
However, older consumers often complain that their needs are ignored. Public toilets are closed, cafes and shops blare loud music, public spaces and shops rarely have anywhere to sit and public transport is poor or non-existent. Our towns and cities are failing us all.
For our high streets to survive, they must become more inclusive. But retailers could thrive, not just survive, if they innovated to adapt to more older consumers. Through this project the ILC aims to encourage retailers to work alongside government, academics and other policymakers to play their part in tackling inequalities with a view to help revitalise our high streets and local economies.
As part of the project the ILC appointed a dedicated retail impact fellow to work full-time engaging with retailers on how they can better cater for an ageing consumer base.
This project is supported by UKRI and University of Stirling.
Retail guides
The ILC has published a series of five guides to help transform the way the retail sector sees and serves older consumers. We believe that encouraging inclusive shopping spaces is better for everyone, no matter our age or ability.
Everyone’s entitled to a healthy, happy and long life – but the ageing process affects us all differently. Retailers have a key role to play in helping customers and staff live healthier, more active lives. Making shopping environments more accessible supports independence, helps us stay fit, and ensures that people who have a health condition, disability or caring responsibility can maintain access to the products and services they want.
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Healthy retail: hints and tips on accessibilityHealthy retail: hints and tips on accessibility provides the basics on why it’s important to make shops accessible, and how retailers and customers can benefit. It also suggests ways to minimise the barriers faced by customers with helpful real-life examples and signposts to further information. |
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Healthy retail: Hints and tips for a healthy workforceHealthy retail: hints and tips for a healthy workforce provides basics on why it’s important to help your staff stay healthy, and how workers, retailers and customers can benefit. Is also suggests ways to minimise the current barriers to work faced by older retail workers, with helpful real-life examples. |
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Healthy retail: Hints and tips for healthy customer serviceHealthy retail: hints and tips for healthy customer service provides the basics on why great customer service is important, and how workers, retailers and customers can benefit. It can help retailers avoid common customer complaints and gain advantage in the current economic landscape. |
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Healthy retail: Hints and tips for a healthy retail environmentHealthy retail: Hints and tips for a healthy retail environment provides the basics on why it’s important to keep our high streets healthy and accessible, and how workers, retailers and customers can benefit. It makes suggestions for ways to improve the local shopping environment, with real-life examples. |
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Healthy retail: Hints and tips on healthier choicesHealthy retail: Hints and tips on healthier choices provides the basics on why it’s important to make healthier choices, and how workers, retailers and customers can benefit. It shows how retailers can benefit from customers who buy products and services that keep us healthy in later life. |
Healthy retail films – businesses creating change
This suite of five films showcases examples of retailing best practices and how small changes can create a big impact in society.
Healthy retail environment: Lord’s Cricket Ground
This film showcases actions Marylebone Cricket Club has taken to ensure a warm welcome for all.
Healthy workforce: The Retail Trust
This film showcases the work of the Retail Trust supporting retired retailers throughout and beyond their working lives.
Customer service: Lindy Wiffen of Ceramica Blue
This film showcases how Ceramica Blue has made small changes, transforming the business to become a valued part of the local neighbourhood.
Healthy choices: Parthepan Sivappirakasam of P&T Retails Newsagents
This film showcases P&T Newsagents practicing small but mighty actions, encouraging healthy customer choices.
Accessibility: Susan Costello of Eyra Design
This film showcases Eyra Design which creates practical and desirable products with extra functionality for an ageing population.
More videos
We are working with UKRI’s Healthy Ageing Challenge to bring insight and expertise to businesses and services keen to innovate and grasp the retail opportunities of our ageing populations. Together, we have knowledge and understanding to share on supporting people to age healthily from a retail / Business2Consumer perspective.
Past events
29/11/2023
ILC Healthy Retail Summit
Join us at the ILC’s retail business summit, which is being held as part of our Healthy Retail Programme, a major campaign focussed on supporting retailers to engage with the opportunities of an ageing society. We are delighted that Kevin Hollinrake, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, who is responsible for retail, will be joining us at this event as a keynote contributor.
17/05/2023
Advancing retail for older consumers
ILC’s Retail Impact Fellow, Ailsa Forbes, worked with the British Society of Gerontologists (BSG) to organise a one-day event that offered a compelling vision of the retail to older people in an ageing UK, the obstacles and the way past them. The event drew on real life examples and success stories and through a series of presentations, panel discussions and plenaries participants heard ideas and solutions from experts and leaders from across retail, gerontology, healthcare and other sectors. For more information see here
28/02/2023
Demographic dividends – grasping the retail opportunities of healthy ageing
The joint Demographic Dividends: Grasping the retail opportunities of healthy ageing webinar partnering UKRI KTN, was an engaging forum of expertise with speakers including:
- Prof. Joshua Bamfield, Centre for Retail Research
- Tim Etherington-Judge, Founder, Healthy Hospo
- Andrew Goodacre, CEO, British Independent Retailers Association
- Hannu Saarijärvi, Professor Tampere University, Finland
- Stephen Spencer, Stephen Spencer + Associates
The wide ranging debate covered how older groups can eat more healthily to the commercial challenge for retailers to invest in facilities for their local communities. The well-being of staff, ‘human education’, retail creativity and the call for a robust infrastructure were consistent threads throughout the speakers narrative. But most importantly, a human conscientiousness and an inventive commitment to working with change are crucial to maximizing retail opportunities across the life-course.
Stephen Spencer wrote on his website:
“In the webinar we explored, in the context of ageing trends (by 2030 there will be 1.3bn people on the planet aged 60+), all the ways in which placemakers and retailers can create cohesive, compelling, and sustainable experiences, as well as the health and wellbeing benefits of reimagined High Streets and town centres that cater to this market.” You can read more of Stephen’s review here
For the recording, and the speakers’ slides: WATCH HERE
24/11/2022
Future of Ageing 2022: Places, city centres and the high street – how do we get ageing on the agenda?
A lot has changed since the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC) was founded in 1997. The world population has increased by 2 billion and the proportion of those aged 65+ has increased by 50%. But how has the way we think about longevity and ageing changed over the past quarter of a decade? Have the retail, hospitality and transport sectors responded adequately to increasing longevity? This session was supported by the Centre for Ageing Better.
- Lord Nigel Crisp KCB
- Ailsa Forbes, Retail Fellow, ILC
- Prof. Lynne Corner, National Innovation Centre for Ageing
- Natalie Turner, Deputy Director for Localities, Ageing Better
For the recording, and the speakers’ slides: WATCH HERE
17/11/2022
ILC’s Retail Impact Fellow, Ailsa Forbes, spoke at a Longevity Week event organised by British Society of Gerontologists ‘Improving the retail experience for older people’
For the recording of the event: WATCH HERE
Latest publications
15-minute cities: Dream or reality?
Retail therapy: Helping people with dementia enjoy spending
Previous publications
Maximising the longevity dividend
Lockdown not shutdown: How can we unlock the longevity dividend post-pandemic?
The Missing £Billions: The economic cost of failing to adapt our high street to respond to demographic change
News and blogs
27/01/2023
‘Please Don’t Tell Me I Look Good For My Age.’ Time To Get Age Appropriate
It is always pleasant to receive what seems to be a genuine compliment. That said, “You look great…” can turn into a very different statement when followed by “‘for your age.” It happened to me for the first time in my early forties and the more it happens, the more it has started to grate. This issue I have is the last three words… “for your age.” Assigning this condition to the sentence, is completely ageist, in my opinion.
17/01/2023
Rip Off Britain
Angela Rippon, Julia Somerville and Gloria Hunniford continue their special week of live editions, tackling the cost-of-living crisis. They reveal why many big-name brands and companies still haven’t got their act together when it comes to dealing with customers suffering with dementia.
06/01/23
Reimaging high street banks
According to Which? Almost half of the UK’s bank branches have closed since 2015. Lots of us don’t visit them anymore. But could we revive high street banking as a service to help us all as we live longer lives?
READ MORE (BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES)
03/11/2022
Financial services industry must innovate to meet the needs of a growing number of people with dementia, argues new report
People with dementia report a litany of challenges when engaging with the financial services and payments industry, according to a new report Retail Therapy, published by the International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC) and supported by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, last Thursday.
27/10/2022
£1bn high street spending boost if we adapt towns and cities for people with dementia
People with dementia are being let down by the high street, retailers and the financial services industry. However, if steps were taken to make services more accessible for this group, they could bring in nearly £1bn to the UK economy, argues a research report published today from the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC).
23/08/2022
Supermarkets mustn’t cut back on basic ranges amid a cost-of-living crisis or a healthy ageing crisis will follow, warns think tank
Reducing access to affordable, nutritious food will not only place added financial pressure on already struggling households but further deepen health inequalities and hamper healthy ageing.
This story was picked up by these publications:
Cutting back on basic ranges risks causing a health crisis, says think tank (talkingretail.com)
Retailers told reducing own brands is creating looming health crisis (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Supermarkets mustn’t cut back on basic ranges amid a cost-of-living crisis – Essex Magazine
Supermarkets mustn’t cut back on basic ranges amid a cost-of-living crisis (hintonmagazine.com)
30/05/2022
Thrive not just survive: Retailers urged to play a bigger role in supporting healthy ageing and play their part in levelling-up
Our high streets needn’t just survive; they could thrive, playing a role in tackling loneliness and helping the UK economy succeed. Inclusive environments are often a cost-effective way to prevent worsening health among an ageing population.
27/05/2022
Could older consumers drive a longevity dividend for the night-time economy?
Blog by: David Sinclair, ILC
Older people are significant contributors to the economy and could play a major part in helping revitalise the evening and night-time economy, a sector hit hard by COVID-19. Yet this is a sector of the economy which really doesn’t seem to “get” ageing or demographic change.
19/11/2021
Why the high street needs older people
Blog by: David Sinclair, ILC
Economic recovery on high streets could be fuelled by older consumers. Yet there is an obstacle. Many older people want to go and spend in their high street but feel shut out – finding it difficult or uninviting. How can we overcome the barriers for all consumers.
04/12/2019
Open letter: Across the UK our high streets are struggling. Footfall is dropping
As high street retail has declined, we have failed to create a viable new offer. There is a lack of shared spaces for all ages on the high street, resulting in underused and financially unsustainable services. A revitalised high street can help reduce loneliness, improve our health and even deliver more housing. If we make the high street work for older people it will also work for younger people.
04/12/2019
Can older people save the high street?
Blog by: Harry Curzon and David Sinclair, ILC
Across the UK and much of the world, high streets are struggling and footfall is dropping. Recent statistics found that in the first half of 2019, 1,234 more stores were closed than were opened. The decline of the high streets across the UK has primarily been blamed on the growth of online shopping, with 82% of people in the UK now shopping on-line, an increase of 53% from 10 years ago. Could older people play a role in saving the high street?
02/12/2015
The Future of Ageing-in-Place: a new well-being agenda for local high streets
Blog by: Luca Brunelli, Ryan Woolrych & Harry Smith
Meeting the challenges of an ageing population has generated debate on the types of supportive environments needed to enable older adults to retain a sense of independence and well-being.
RETAIL IMPACT FELLOW
For 18 months, our Retail Impact Fellow, Ailsa Forbes, worked with UKRI, the Healthy Ageing Challenge and Stirling University leading a programme of work to make better use of social science research evidence to help the business sector understand and act on their role in supporting healthy ageing.
- We want to support retailers to better understand the evidence about what healthy ageing means.
- We want to inspire action by retailers in relation to their role supporting healthy ageing.
- We want to transform how the retail sector sees and serves older consumers.
For our high streets to survive they are going to have to adapt to more older customers. But our high streets needn’t just survive – they can thrive.
- Across the G20, spending by older households exceeds the combined GDP of Japan, Australia, Canada, and Brazil.
- ILC research showed that older consumers spent £319 billion (54% of all UK consumer spending) in 2018. This was likely to increase to £550 billion (or 63p of every pound spent by consumers) by 2040.
- The combined spending power of Greater Manchester’s households aged 65+ is increasing by £280 million each year. ILC research shows that making Greater Manchester town centres more accessible and appealing to older consumers could boost high street spending by over £50 million each year.
Working with Universities, retailers and other businesses, charities and policymakers, our Retail Impact Fellow was tasked with driving change and delivering impact in the sectors engaged in town centre placemaking (for example, retail, transport, planning, design) around healthy ageing.
Retailers can play a role in tackling loneliness as well as helping the UK economy succeed. They certainly have a role in helping us all live more healthily.
The context is a challenging one. Across the UK and much of the world, high streets are struggling, and footfall is dropping. PWC found that in the first half of 2019, 1,234 more stores were closed than were opened. Diversity in retail is declining as we buy more from a smaller number of places. Meanwhile, online retail continues to squeeze the high street.
Yet there is a lot going on and plenty of opportunities to help deliver our ambitious plans.
- The UN and WHO are leading the Decade of Healthy Ageing;
- The Westminster Government has committed to supporting 5 years of extra “healthy years”;
- There are strong networks of Healthy places and Age Friendly Cities to build relationships with.