Future success requires more than sales today, it requires relationships with customers. Best Buy’s senior focus is golden for several reasons. First the older age segment is still booming. The products like GreatCall are not just gadgets, they provide much needed safety and security. Best Buy’s Geek Squad is the perfect compliment that makes the technology work in people’s homes and lives. Instead of searching for new product categories to sell, retailers need to find more ways to help customers buy solutions for their lives. Best Buy has done that and has created long term potential not just with today’s seniors, but with their children who will need similar home solutions as they age.

Best Buy is wise to recognize the needs of the senior citizen market and the opportunities they offer for more business. Technology changes rapidly and the older we are, the harder it is to keep up. The seniors are the ones that usually have more money than the younger generations. However, why should a senior purchase a 60-inch 4K TV when they don’t know how to program it? Now with Best Buy’s assistance, it’s no longer a problem.

Moreover, beyond consumer electronics, many items can appeal to seniors including medical devices. The list goes on and on with how Best Buy can assist seniors. All retailers should recognize the importance of the older generation and be thinking of options to offer such as larger typeface on websites and apps and better methods for assistance. Let’s start with a senior citizen retail helpline that has a human on the phone rather than a computer — older people would definitely prefer that.

The aging Boomer and senior segments have a real need for tech support and relationships in addition to a new set of products. Best Buy is making a strategic investment in a market that knows, trusts and will become grateful brand ambassadors!

As my mom would say, “we are older longer than we are young.” I think this is a fantastic idea. However older generations don’t just need medical alert tools, they need technology lessons. Best Buy’s needs to offer in-home sessions on texting and video calling and sharing. Call it “Texting Tuesdays” if you want, but get our elderly up to speed with their kids and grandkids. Don’t leave our grand people in the Dark Ages. Let them be able to communicate with their families in real time. Send out high-school and college volunteers to senior places, etc. and ask all your customers if they would like some free text messaging lessons. Have in-store volunteers teaching texting and sharing pics with anyone who is interested. There is an entire world of elderly not so elder, that are missing out on today’s sharing because no one taught them how. Remember, no child left behind. How about, no parent left behind?

The “senior community” can cover a wide brush stroke of years. The closer we are to the top number, the less we are going to be interested in tech support past what we already know. In many cases the desire to learn something new has passed. However, if we are at the lower number in years, the more we are willing to learn about today’s technology and how it can benefit us. So go for it Best Buy. Remember, those in their younger-than-senior years are going to be a senior one day. Don’t forget them now or they will forget you later.

This Gen Xer would be very glad to pony up for a subscription to on-call/in-home tech support service for my in-laws. They don’t need monitoring services, but they have everyday needs like OS updates for their phones and desktops, router hardware replacement, computer health/backup checkups, and TV settings. Whether it’s Comcast/Xfinity or Best Buy, it needs to be someone I can trust and someone who can go to their house same-day or next-day, know the right questions to ask (and have a secure log of settings) and just get the job done (without Mom looking over my shoulder, making worried noises, and speculating on worst-case scenarios).

Sell it as peace of mind/monkey off my back for my generation!

This would seem to upend (or is it just give new meaning to) the phrase “life-long” customer, but I agree the demographics support the idea. That having been said, I was disappointed George’s piece didn’t discuss more their strategy(ies) beyond the obvious of purchasing a device maker; it seems like there is much more that a company could do.

I am a huge fan of this move and always appreciate brands who zig (go after boomers and senior citizens) when everyone else zags (go after millennials). The boomer generation may be getting passed up in numbers a tiny bit by millennials, but their purchasing power is somewhere in the 100X range. The baby boomer generation is the wealthiest in history and are still a inheriting massive amount of wealth from their parents.

Targeting this demo with a combination of products, services and real, human, in-person help is a great move — specifically in this category of technology and electronics where the pace is fast and everyone in this generation could use a little help.

In terms of rivals in this space for this target customer, the only viable one seems to be Amazon, but they lack (as of now) the people part of the process.