2024 is considered to be the first year of China's silver economy. From the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of the national aging cause and pension service system, which first proposed to "vigorously develop the silver economy", to the first executive meeting in 2024 to study the policy measures to develop the silver economy and improve the well-being of the elderly, and then to China's first national document named after it, the "silver economy" has been "named" many times.
China is the market with the greatest potential for the aging industry in the world. According to the "Research Report on the Development of China's Silver Economy" released by the Institute of Aging Research of Fudan University, the scale of the silver economy will reach 19 trillion yuan in 2035, accounting for 28% of total consumption and 9% of GDP6%。
In recent years, many enterprises have entered the silver economy, with successes and failures, but on the whole, the silver economy market is still in the blue ocean, the competition pattern is not clear, and there are huge market opportunities.
So, what should companies do if they want to enter the silver economy?
First of all, it is necessary to grasp the needs of the elderly. From the perspective of demand, the silver economy is an economy born from the four needs of the elderly. Based on the physiological needs and life security of the silver-haired population, daily consumption industries such as catering and retail, clothing, shoes and hats for the elderly have been born. The health needs of the silver-haired population have promoted the development of health improvement industries such as health care, nursing services, health care products, fitness and beauty. Emotional needs and self-needs have promoted spiritual consumption in the silver economy, and driven the development of industries such as education and training for the elderly, culture and entertainment, and social tourism.
For the grasp of the needs of the elderly, we can also change the angle. Although collectively referred to as the silver-haired population, the core demands and consumer needs of the elderly of different ages are also very different due to their different ages and health status.
Energetic elderly people aged 50-60: they have not yet retired or have just retired, and have a greater demand for spiritual and cultural consumption such as cultural tourism and education and training;
Elderly people aged 60-68: basically retired, may have underlying diseases, but most of them do not affect their lives, and their consumption mostly revolves around life scenarios;
Elderly people aged 68-77: The age is close to the average life expectancy in China, and there may be chronic diseases that will affect their lives.
Elderly people over 77 years old: self-care ability declines, may enter a semi-disabled or disabling state, the core focus of consumption is nursing, such as home care, elderly care institutions, etc.
Second, and very crucially, if you want to succeed in the silver economy, you must not only see the opportunities of an aging population, but also develop new business models based on the needs of precise customers. Overall, unlike other groups, the silver economy has the following unique characteristics:
1) The silver economy is a slow economy and a long economy, it is difficult to attract customers at the beginning, and once it is attracted, customer loyalty is very high, so enterprises need to be down-to-earth and deep, rather than eager for returns.
2) The silver economy is also an experience economy and trust economy, which requires emotional investment to win the trust of customers, and sincerity is always nirvana.
3) The silver economy is a complex and comprehensive economy, such as home care and life services and companionship services.
4) Appropriate channels are particularly important in the silver economy. Although the Internet access rate of the elderly has been significantly improved at this stage, the consumption pattern of the elderly group is still quite different from that of the younger group, and the consumption habits of the elderly need to be fully considered in the channel construction.
In the field of silver economy, a community smart health care service center project is a relatively successful case. In the case that many people feel that the current physical store operation is difficult, this project created a new store last year with an annual income of nearly one million yuan, which is an ordinary community store, and even the store manager, a total of three people, are all "novices" in the industry, and there are no complex marketing methods. The fundamental reason for its success is that it has identified the blank spots in the needs of the elderly, and its unique business model is also a major factor in its success.
This community smart health care service center is generally set up around the community, mainly to provide comprehensive health services for the elderly living in the community.
The vast majority of people over the age of 60 have one or several chronic diseases or physical degenerative diseases, and there is a strong need for health improvement. At present, many medical institutions are already very heavy due to their daily medical workload, and it is difficult to undertake the management and improvement of sub-health and chronic diseases.
This community smart health care service center accurately grasps the blank spot of the needs of the elderly, and can provide users with health management services such as early screening of common chronic diseases, chronic disease control, and health trusteeship based on health big data, as well as health conditioning services such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular training, which comprehensively meets the health improvement needs of the community home-based elderly population.
In addition to a wealth of health improvement projects, it also provides online and offline services such as first-class medicine, Internet family doctors, three-class green passes, and medical door-to-door care, so that the elderly can have a one-stop solution to their health care problems.
In addition, the success of the channel is also an important contributing factor to the success of this community smart health care service center. Since the elderly live in the community most of the time, and the older people have a low rate of "Internet access", they are very dependent on the surrounding physical stores.
In addition, this community smart health care service center will also sincerely and enthusiastically serve users as the basic principle of business. Elderly people have a lot of leisure time, and if there is a place around the community where they feel relaxed and comfortable, they will feel very happy, and it is very easy to form a good word-of-mouth effect. (At present, if a store is operated "for profit", consumers will feel pressured to stay away.) ）
The last point, and the most important point, is that this project has created a mature business model, which can help the investment franchise stores to achieve quick profits, and truly create a high-quality project of "policy guidance, first-class support, community welcome, people's benefits, and business profits" in the context of the current country's great attention to elderly services.
Economic development looks at science and technology in the short term, policies in the medium term, and population in the long term, and the development of the silver economy is also a practical need to realize the people's yearning for a better life.