The silver economy is becoming more and more dynamic
Aunt Liang, who is 60 years old, has a richer life after learning to shop online.
"Before, I relied on my son and daughter-in-law to buy things. They bought what they wanted online." After all, I didn't pick it myself, so Aunt Liang made up my mind to learn online shopping by herself.
Download APP, bind bank card, learn to pay with mobile phone...Finally figured out the process, Aunt Liang can shop around every time she makes online purchases. "It adds a lot of shopping fun, online shopping is really interesting!"
Silver-haired people like Aunt Liang are increasingly becoming an important group of online shopping.
According to data from the e-commerce platform, the online shopping sales of the silver-haired family in the first three quarters of 2021 increased by 4.8 times year-on-year, and the silver-haired family has become an important growth driver for the consumer market.
The silver-haired economy is becoming more and more dynamic.
A few days ago, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening Work on Aging in the New Era" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") was issued, which clearly stated that the silver economy should be actively cultivated, and a series of encouragement and support measures were put forward.
The silver-haired economy will become an important new growth point for the Chinese market in the future.
New hot spot and new blue ocean
"Parents are getting older, and we need to care more about them." Xiao Yang works in Beijing and his parents are not around, so he cares more about his parents' daily life.
In addition to buying things for his parents, Xiao Yang buys some commercial insurance for his parents every year and arranges physical examinations. "My parents' health and safety are my greatest expectations."
This is not the wish of Xiao Yang alone.
As parents get older, more and more children need to pay more attention to their parents.
According to the National Bulletin on the Development of the Elderly in 2020, as of 0:00 on November 1, 2020, the number of elderly people aged 60 and over in my country has reached 264.02 million, accounting for 18.7% of the total population; and the number of people aged 65 and over in my country has reached 19064. Ten thousand people, accounting for 13.5% of the total population; the dependency ratio of the elderly population in my country is 19.7%, an increase of 7.8 percentage points from 2010.
"The number of elderly people is increasing. If there is no special industry to serve the elderly from a socio-economic perspective, then a huge market that promotes economic development will be lost. From the perspective of the elderly, some of the elderly population who have just entered the old age The income and education levels of people are higher than in the past, and their consumer demand is also stronger.” said Xie Lili, an associate professor at the Institute of Gerontology, School of Social and Demography, Renmin University of China.
The number of the elderly population is increasing, and the consumption needs of the elderly are also increasing. Therefore, the silver economy has emerged as a new consumption hotspot naturally.
In October this year, the "Silver Economy Rise-2021 Elderly User Online Consumption Report" released by the Jingdong Institute of Consumer and Industrial Development showed that the silver-haired people are becoming more and more accustomed to online shopping for daily necessities: consumption of rice, noodles, oil, and paper wipes has increased by 10 times. ; Silver-haired people also enrich their leisure life through online shopping, with tourism consumption increasing by 10 times; silver-haired people’s "healthy life" has increased by 8 times, and health check-up consumption has doubled; silver-haired people also love to try new businesses , The online consumption of laundry service and living payment has increased at a high multiple.
The Internet has become an important "engine" of the silver-haired economy. Especially affected by the epidemic, more and more elderly people are beginning to accelerate their embrace of digital life. Coupled with the original offline consumer goods market for the elderly, the market scale of the silver-haired economy will become larger and larger. , Become a new blue ocean.
"Not only is the market huge, but demand is also diverse and individualized," said Jin Ge, a researcher at Peking University.
Jin Ge is also a photography enthusiast. He often meets some elderly people in the shooting, "excellent technology, advanced equipment, and very passionate." Jin Ge shared his experience.
He said that now the elderly not only pay attention to material needs, but also pay great attention to spiritual needs, such as tourism, entertainment, etc., which can be tapped in the process of silver-haired economic development.
Participants in the silver economy are not just the elderly, but young people are also important consumers.
According to relevant data, the "post-80s" and "post-90s" people often buy daily necessities, health supplies and holiday gifts for the elderly at home in return for the elderly, so that the elderly can be exposed to more new products.
"Digital filial piety" makes up for the regret that some children cannot take care of their parents and relatives by their side.
Matching supply with demand
According to the research data of iiMedia Consulting, from 2016 to 2020, the scale of China's silver hair economy market has continued to rise.
In 2020, it has reached 5.4 trillion yuan, with an annual growth rate of 25.6%. It is expected that in 2021, China's silver hair economic market will continue to grow, reaching 5.9 trillion yuan.
During the interview, the reporter found that there are generally specific floors or areas in shopping malls, such as men’s and women’s clothing, sportswear, or parent-child projects.
In cities, there will also be some commercial centers or streets that specialize in certain types of goods, such as electrical appliances and clothing.
But there are few dedicated floors or commercial centers that involve elderly products.
Therefore, it is often difficult to "Where to buy something for the elderly in the family?"
"Young people buy clothes for the elderly mainly for'warm', and they don't think about styles and colors. Old people buy clothes for themselves, but they think more about whether they are beautiful and fashionable." Xie Lili shared her observations and observations with reporters. Research.
Xie Lili also cooperated with e-commerce platforms. The research found that among the top ten lists of young people shopping for their elders, most of them are cotton-padded clothes, down jackets, and thermal suits that meet basic needs; but in the list of elders shopping for themselves, there is Dresses and wigs meet more personalized needs.
"This dislocation reminds the youth group to understand the needs of the elderly through full communication." Xie Lili said.
The trend of population aging in our country is gradually strengthening, and the increase of the elderly population will inevitably bring about an increase in the consumption demand of the elderly.
On the contrary, the supply of products for the elderly in the market is slightly weaker.
The emergence of this change reminds not only young people, but also the market.
The silver economy is an economic model that meets the needs of the elderly. The core is the elderly, so more energy needs to be invested in researching and discovering the needs of the elderly, so as to provide effective supply, so as to expand the consumer market for the elderly. powerful.
The changes in the needs of the elderly are not only reflected in the material needs, but the spiritual needs are gradually increasing, and they are more diversified and individualized.
Aunt Zhao has gone out to travel at least once a year in recent years. “After retirement, I have more free time. It is better to go out and visit more often if I stay at home.” Aunt Zhao said that she enriches her life and increases her knowledge.
This year, affected by the epidemic, she has not made a trip. Aunt Zhao plans to make up for another trip next year.
The "Annual Report on China's Domestic Tourism Development 2021" shows that "one old and one small" has become a market hotspot.
In the context of the strengthening of the aging trend, tourism for the elderly, health and living, etc. have broad market prospects.
There is also health. The elderly are now not only concerned about the treatment of diseases, but also very concerned about the big health industry such as physical examination, health care products, dietary supplements and so on.
From simple treatment to active prevention, the potential of the elderly in the field of health consumption will also have a greater release.
"With the changes in the demographic structure of our country, the post-50s and post-60s have gradually entered the old age. These two age groups have higher education levels, newer life concepts, and more initiative in consumption. Demand has begun to upgrade from a survival type to an enjoyment type." Jin Ge said that the supply side of the silver economy should also change accordingly. From the perspective of product structure, the current service supply is mainly based on medical and elderly care services, and more social and social services for the elderly should be provided. Services for the elderly, such as tourism, financial management for the elderly, and education for the elderly.
From the perspective of product quality, elderly people of different ages, regions, incomes, and even different hobbies have different product and service needs. The supply side must have sufficient ability to fully explore and identify the segmented needs of different elderly groups.
The "Opinions" also clearly stated that enterprises and scientific research institutions should increase the R&D and manufacturing of products for the elderly, support the transformation of key technological achievements of products for the elderly, and service innovation, and actively develop intelligent, auxiliary and rehabilitation services suitable for the elderly. Products to meet the needs of the elderly to improve the quality of life.
We need to work together to promote development
According to forecasts, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the population of 60 years old and above will reach 300 million.
It is not only the responsibility of the country, society and family, but also an inevitable requirement of economic and social development to provide the elderly with support and happiness in their lives.
Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously cultivate and promote the development of the silver-haired economy, while giving full play to the social benefits of the elderly care industry, but also better achieving the high-quality development of the elderly care industry.
On the whole, the development of the domestic aging industry is relatively lagging, and the supply of supplies and services for the elderly is insufficient.
Currently, there are only more than 2,000 types of elderly products in China, which is 1/20 of the types of elderly products in Japan.
The independent innovation ability of the elderly products manufacturing industry is low, and most of the basic, core and cutting-edge technologies are in the hands of foreign-funded enterprises.
The organizational form of the aging industry is underdeveloped, lacking leading and branded enterprises, and existing enterprises are "small, scattered, chaotic, and poor".
The "Opinions" proposed that relevant departments should formulate catalogs and quality standards for elderly supplies and services, and promote the certification of elderly care services.
This will help more subjects participate in the elderly care services and promote the prosperity of the silver-haired economy.
"In the research, it is found that my country’s various policies for the elderly are relatively complete. The central, local, or various fields have some corresponding encouragement and support policies. This is a good foundation. As the potential of the silver economy is further explored, there will be More and more companies are participating." Xie Lili told reporters.
For example, commercial insurance for the elderly.
In recent years, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has encouraged insurance institutions to develop various types of insurance products for the elderly to enrich the types of commercial insurance options for the elderly.
The data shows that there are currently more than 1,000 insurance products available for the elderly to choose from, which basically cover the diseases insurance, medical insurance, accident insurance, pension insurance and other products that the elderly are most concerned about.
However, compared with my country's large-scale elderly population, insurance coverage still needs to be further improved.
As of now, there are 107 million elderly people aged 60 and over in the country holding commercial insurance policies, and the penetration rate of commercial insurance for senior citizens (the number of people purchasing commercial insurance/total population) is 41%.
To promote the better and faster development of the silver economy, all parties need to invest more energy and work together.
In this process, talent is the key.
Whether it is the innovation of products for the elderly or the supply of elderly care services, it must ultimately be implemented in the talents.
Product innovation requires talents to understand the market and carry out product innovations.
Elderly care services require talents to perform nursing and other tasks.
Especially for the latter, our country is in urgent need of talents in aged care.
Jin Ge suggested that more efforts should be made to cultivate talents, whether it is management talents or skilled talents.
Domestic colleges and universities can increase the construction of gerontology; vocational colleges should improve the training system and train more talents who are suitable for the elderly service industry.
"The government should also formulate more incentive measures in terms of training, remuneration, and job title recognition, so as to attract more people to join the elder care service talent team."
In response to many elderly people being deceived and the quality of elderly products not up to standards, the "Opinions" also clearly pointed out that market supervision and other departments should strengthen supervision, severely crack down on illegal acts such as infringement of intellectual property rights and the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy products, and safeguard the consumption rights and interests of the elderly. A safe, convenient, and honest consumer environment.
“When the silver hair economy is still in the developing stage, more attention must be paid to supervision. Effective supervision must be used to change people’s bad impressions of the “counterfeit and inferior quality” in the current elderly product market, and promote the healthy development of the silver hair economy.” Xie Lili said. .
Zhang Yiqi