• by Wayne Langley , March 5, 2018

You’ve probably never heard of Taobao. It’s not a popular household brand in the United States, unlike its main competitor, Amazon. Taobao is the consumer face of retail giant Alibaba Group, which has been slowly invading Amazon’s market share from across the Pacific in China.

The people running Taobao are incredibly smart and know that the retail space is very saturated. To grow their business, they either need to tap into little-served markets or steal customers from the competition. With their latest move, they are doing both, by appealing directly to the Boomer and senior demographic.

In February, Taobao announced a new program that will streamline the ordering process, with older users specifically in mind. The brand has invested in research and development that has allowed it to craft a new digital interface designed for older consumers. It aims to cut down on confusion and make buying simpler. It has even, specifically, hired consultants over the age of 60 to weigh in on how to make the app more useful for their demographic. 

An interesting design feature is a built-in peer-to-peer chat function that makes it simple for older shoppers to become social shoppers. Using the app or website, older users can share the items they are interested in with friends and family. It is thought that this will allow buyers to solicit feedback on the potential purchase and involve families in the purchasing decision. Oh, and don’t forget that, after an item is shared, friends and family members will be prompted to buy the item for the user who shared it. 

This kind of purchasing is important for Taobao, as it has realized the importance of family in the buying process, especially in Eastern markets. So, even if separated, the children can continue to help take care of their parents. This follows a strong social mandate in Eastern cultures that children should assist in the caring of parents as they age.

But is this strategy working? To date, only a little more than 1% of all registered Taobao users are in their sixties. By 2020, it is estimated that nearly 17% of all Chinese citizens, Taobao’s main market, will be over the age of 60. Obviously, this leaves lots of room to grow in an underserved age group. 

In reading the literature about the new service, some seniors cite their reliance on Taobao for retirement, as it enables them to remain independent longer. One user mentions that he likes the service because it means someone else is bringing bags of heavy groceries to him, eliminating the physical strain of shopping.

Certainly, we’ll be interested to see how Taobao’s targeting will work out. It could either be the herald of a much-larger movement or a footnote included for those studying the brand. Either way, we think it’s a gamble that more marketing professionals are going to take in an effort to capture the lucrative Boomer and senior market.