BOOMING MARKET

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

Baby boomers, perhaps this century's most significant demographic group to shape consumer behavior, are making themselves heard in the supermarket.

They can be thanked for the growth of natural/organic products, convenience foods, and solution selling programs.

"This demographic is pretty much what the company has appealed to over the years," said Jeff Wood, vice president of grocery merchandising for Quality Food Centers, Bellevue, Wash.

"They are a little bit higher in age, have a little more disposable income and they are looking for more quality and service. We've geared our stores that way for years," Wood continued. To appeal to baby boomers, QFC has been paying more attention to natural food in the last three years. According to Wood, natural food will have its own section or be integrated in-line, depending on store demographics.

Baby boomers, a term that came into the vernacular in the early 1980s, describes anyone born between 1946 and 1964, currently between the ages of 33 and 51. Boomers account for 76 million Americans, or about one-third of the U.S. population, which stood at 248.7 million in 1990.

"Aging" boomers -- the first of whom turned 50 last year -- are emerging as a highly defined consumer group, said David Wolfe, president of Wolfe Resources Group, Reston, Va., a consumer behavior consulting group.

"As we grow older, we put increasing value on relationship marketing," said Wolfe. "This is when the marketer reflects true empathy with the consumer and understands his or her motivations and feelings."

Another aspect of relationship marketing is offering a variety of choices, which many supermarkets are doing.

"Discount operations and specialty retailers have price going for them, but they don't have a range of choice," said Wolfe. Supermarkets, meanwhile, have gone from stocking about 8,000 items some 20 years ago to an average of 30,000 stockkeeping units today, noted Wolfe.

Along with products, services are also important to boomers. Retailers are responding by providing an array of services inside the supermarket -- from banking, fax and photocopying, to dry cleaning and photo development. Moreover, they are adding value to the shopping experience with such amenities as play centers, which may appeal particularly to younger boomers.

Randalls Food Markets' new play center, the Wee-markable Treehouse, which debuted in its Sugar Land, Texas, unit last month, is meant to make it easier for boomers to shop, Dawne Proffitt, spokeswoman for Houston-based chain, told SN.

The play center, open to kids aged 3 to 7, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., is Randall's first; it has been well received, according to Proffitt.

"If the Wee-markable Treehouse is successful at [Sugar Land], we'll consider expanding it to other stores," said Laura Crews, marketing service manager.

QFC, meanwhile, is offering home delivery, meal solutions and ready-to-prepare entrees, according to Wood.

Retailers are also expanding their natural food offerings. Aging boomers watch their health as well as their girth, and supermarkets continue to offer more better-for-you foods and low- and nonfat alternatives.

"They are looking for low- and no-salt products," said Roger Burks, senior vice president of The Mad Butcher, Pine Bluff, Ark. "They are reading ingredients and are more health-conscious."

According to Burks, boomers are also demanding service as well as fast foods that are quick to fix or already fixed. Microwavable products -- including dinner, breakfast and snack items -- are popular.

Burks makes sure he signs new items when they are brought in, and that he provides informational brochures from both vendor associations and individual manufacturers. According to Wolfe and other industry sources, boomers want information.

Solutions selling is another convenience Burks provides to baby boomers. "They like the convenience of being able to buy all their goods together, instead of all over the store," he said.

Boomers also use coupons more than other customers, said Burks.

Burks' observation concurs with the findings of a 1996 study, "Consumption Behavior of Baby Boomers and Seniors," by the Center for Mature Consumer Studies at Georgia State University's Gerontology Center, Atlanta.

The study found that baby boomers are more price-conscious than the elderly when shopping for grocery products, with 75% of them (as opposed to 62% of seniors) saying that they consider price reduction or special sales in their brand selection. According to George Moschis, the Center's director, boomers are using more coupons when compared to seniors.

Doug Carlson, category manager at Brown & Cole, Bellingham, Wash., noted that boomers are willing to pay more if they perceive that the product has value.

"This group is looking for quality items," he said, citing pasta sauce as an example of a category that has continued to experience "upscaling."

He also agreed that boomers are looking for better-for-you products.

"People we've known for a long time are having health problems, [as well as] people we've looked up to as role models," he said. "We're seeing the result of our eating habits, and realizing there are changes we can make to improve our health."

Carlson reported that his customers are reading labels and looking for products that are fat-free or low-fat, or naturally low in fat, but that are also tasty. "With some of the salad dressings, it's really difficult to tell that they are fat-free. They are doing well," he said.

Carlson's observations echo Moschis' research to some degree. Moschis' study found that people under 55 are more knowledgeable abut nutrition, but that doesn't necessarily influence their eating habits, in that they will not always sacrifice taste for nutrition.

Kevin Copper, vice president of merchandising at Sterk's Super Foods, Hammond, Ind., is uncertain whether the trend toward eating more low-fat, better-for-you foods was a baby boomer preference or whether it's just a national trend.

"[Baby boomers] are the largest segment of the population, and when they decide to consume more of a given item, we try to take care of that . . . but partly it's everyone who's saying 'Gee, I'd rather eat more healthy.'

Copper is not wrong, in that boomers are influencing the general population.

Wolfe explained this phenomenon as the "psychological center of gravity," which determines society's behavioral norms. In a democratic society, the PCG is going to be set by the largest population group.

"The median age for adults today is 44," said Wolfe. "People clustered around the PCG have a disproportionate influence on lifestyles and values. What's happening today is that marketers have to deal with the values of older people, and mature values are [now] influencing younger people . . . and the entire society."

Judy Lane, buyer, and Rick Hagen, sales manager, at Camellia Food Stores, Norfolk, Va., have also felt the effect of boomer preferences in their stores, the majority of which are in urban, blue-collar neighborhoods on the East Coast.

"The chip line, which is our biggest direct-store-delivery category, has gone toward low-fat and nonfat," Hagen said. Both management and vendors were doubtful at first that the better-for-you chips would sell in Camellia's stores, but in fact they've done well.

"We carry a few SKUs of low- and nonfat gravy," said Lane. "Five years ago, we didn't have any."

Every category at Camellia has low- or nonfat items, and many low-salt items have also been added, said Hagen.

Lane further noted that it's important for her stores to carry both large, economy sizes for boomers with kids still at home, as well as smaller sizes for empty-nesters.