If you plan for your business to be around in
10 years and you don't have a "youth-only" product line, you might
want to consider how well seniors do in your place of business. Probably
not as well as you think, if you are an average merchant. But since seniors
are already an affluent age group and this market will be doubling in the
next 20 years while younger markets decline, perhaps you should take a look
around. You probably need to seniorize a few things.
Seniors are loyal customers and appreciate it
when companies go the extra mile to make their visit more convenient and
comfortable. Some suggestions are about things that are more noticeable
when they are there while others are more noticeable when you don't provide
them. Common sense
rules the day and just do what you can and what is appropriate for your
business. Here are a few suggestions starting with the parking lot and
moving inside:
General
The parking lot
Handicapped parking - Add a couple more
spaces than the law requires and/or police the ones that you do have. All it
takes is a few days per week of writing tickets and those young athletes that
take up the handicapped parking spaces won't do it anymore. Keep
the shopping carts and other things out of the handicapped parking. If
carts are sitting in your handicapped spaces, you don't have handicapped parking.
If possible, don't put your handicapped parking
areas on the far side of your busiest driveway. Seniors who need the
handicapped parking don't feel like being chased across a driveway by an
impatient youngster. When properly planned, parking can be provided right
in front of the building and seniors won't have to cross the traffic to get into
your store.
Another parking suggestion is to install
senior-only spaces. Many seniors need something close but are too
respectful to take a handicapped spot if they don't need it. Close senior
parking means that they don't have to walk quite as far or dodge as much
traffic. The only problem that you will have with this is that there is no
way to legally enforce senior-only parking. It must be done on a
good-faith basis. It will however, certainly be abused from time to time
by thoughtless and selfish people.
Have one of your service representatives or
greeters stand near the entrance to help seniors with anything they need.
This sounds like a big-store suggestion but many smaller stores can make a few
efforts in this area. Some stores have umbrella people for rainy
days. These people run out to share a golf umbrella with seniors and help
them inside.
Consider installing an automatic or at least
push-button door opener. Commercial doors often have closure springs that
make the door heavy, and many are hard for seniors to open. These closure
springs can pull the door closed too fast or too hard and people get caught in the crunch.
Sure, automatic door openers are expensive. So is not having seniors come
into your business. But if you make it easy for seniors and let them know
that you appreciate them, they will be back and tell their friends about you
too. Between arthritis and loss of bone and muscle mass, many seniors have
no more strength than a 6-7 year old child. If you've noticed that kids
have a hard time with your doors, so can some seniors.
The entrance
Watch slippery areas near doors, especially
when it is raining or snowing. Wet floors are dangerous and putting up a
little yellow caution sign is not a substitute for good traction. Add
traction mats if you need to.
Linoleum flooring is not only the most durable
and cheapest flooring that you can find, it is also the safest if it is
maintained properly and no slip finishes are applied. It must be kept dry and free of debris or it can be
as slippery as ice. Someone with poor eyesight or even who just isn't
paying attention may not realize that there is a hazard on your linoleum
floor. Also make sure that broken tiles are fixed. It is not only
unattractive in your store, it can catch a shoe heel or toe.
Carpeting can catch heels, runs leave strings, and carpet tears or buckles will surely cause people to
trip. If carpeting is more ideal for your business type, make sure that it
is well-maintained and you look for problem areas regularly.
Lighting
This is probably one of the biggest danger
areas in most establishments. In an effort to reduce costs or to produce
ambiance, light quality is diminished to the functional level of most younger
people. Senior eyes can be great, but many seniors can also suffer from a
reduction in visibility due to cataracts, degenerative eye diseases, or just age. In some cases, seniors may
only see half as much light as someone who is younger.
Improper lighting can cause shadows, glare, or cause eyestrain. To anyone with
poor vision, a shadow can contain many dangers or at least is the cause of much
uncertainty.
Restrooms
For most businesses, restrooms are a necessary
evil. They don't add directly to the profit, they cost time and money, and
it must be provided as a completely free service. To top it off, they can
quickly go from being clean to filthy when inconsiderate people use them
inappropriately. However, they are a necessary part of your store function
and if you do not maintain them well, your customers will leave quickly and
possibly not come back. Customers cringe when they walk into any
commercial restroom because of so many poor past experiences. A
well-maintained facility is your key to impressing your customers where they
sit... so to speak.
A dark restroom looks dirty, even if it is
immaculate. Provide plenty of fluorescent lighting including directly over
stalls. This is critical for navigation for people with poor vision.
If you are building or rebuilding, allow a few more inches on each side than you
would have to to be comfortable.
Above all else, install handrails in
every stall, not just the handicapped ones. Handle bars help people
navigate around a stall and help them sit down without falling down. Bad
knees or hips are a big problem for many seniors and they can give out easily
when sitting down.
Put inside clothes hooks inside the stall
door. Both men and women use them to hang their coats on and women often
hang a purse on the hook as well. But place them no higher than eye
level. A strap for a heavy purse is hard to push over your head.
Consider adding more than
one handicapped stall. Yes, they are more expensive and take up more
space. But if you are in need of a handicapped stall and the only one that
is there is foul or otherwise indisposed, you have a problem. Finding
someone and waiting for the problem to be resolved might not be possible.
Make sure that floors remain clean and as dry
as possible. The availability of water and paper products can make this
hard to do but one wrong slip can cause a bunch of trouble.
Retail
Isle clutter
- We know that you need to replace products on
shelving and that sometimes it means that you have to pull a cart out and
put boxes of product on the floor. But try to keep it to a minimum,
get the boxes out fast, take the time to fold and stack the boxes so that
customers don't have to navigate around them, immediately stop and pick up
small pieces of tape, cardboard, or paper (and dispose of it), and always
check the isle for any product that may remain or have been spilled
including water.
- We also recommend that you attach a dust mop
to each cart and make sure that stock people sweep each area after
stocking. Small pieces of debris may remain and some boxes have
coatings that are slippery and come off on the floor.
- Make isles wide enough to get a cart past a
walker, plus at least a foot on each side. Might this take a row of
merchandise out of your store? Sure, but if it gets more customers in
to buy your merchandise, it seems as though you should be money ahead.
- Add service personnel. Nobody likes it
if they cannot get service. Seniors are used to customer service even
if the product costs a bit more. Service personnel are needed to help
find things, make recommendations, and pull things down from shelves that
are too high.
- Watch how high you put things. Many
older seniors have a hard time reaching above their head. Arthritis
and bone loss can result in movement limitations. Having to look up
and stretch can also cause a loss of balance.
- Minimize or eliminate music and watch the
style, it can hurt and it is annoying even to younger adults. Add a
hearing aid to the problem and some types of music in some environments
becomes intolerable.
- Get rid of or fix your poor shopping carts
that wiggle, stall, or try to go the wrong way. Many seniors stow the
cane and use your cart for stability.
- Add checkout lanes to reduce wait time.
Standing in line can be quite exhausting.
- Some
stores are opening early for senior citizen hour when everything carries a
senior discount price. Stores are not crowded, extra staff is
available, and seniors save money.
- Use price tags that are large print
- Add sitting benches and especially by doors
where people sometimes wait. The bigger the store, the more you use.
It can be tiring going through your store and if given a few moments rest,
the shopping trip can continue. This is especially nice for seniors
who are only accompanying a friend or spouse.
- Use helpers to get product out to the car
- Install grab rails in dressing rooms.
Many seniors avoid trying on new clothes because the have a hard time in
your dressing rooms. With nothing to hang onto besides the hook on the wall,
it is easy to lose your balance and it may be hard to sit down unless there is a
handrail.
- Have someone at the dressing room that can
help to remove pins and clips on garments. Arthritic hands have
trouble with these seemingly small things. With pins and clips
removed, seniors are also more likely to buy your product because they don't
have to mess with them at home.
Restaurants
- Supply diabetic content on menus - you
can probably increase your senior clients (as well as dieters) within
days. Many diabetics have to be very careful, others just want to know
what they are eating.
- Large print menus - especially important if
the lighting in your facility is low. You would probably be surprised
at the number of people that cannot read the food descriptions.
- Supply diabetic meals - Ask any person with
diabetes and you will find that going to an average restaurant requires
picking and choosing among very few items on a menu... and forget about
dessert. Offer sugar free options and you will win some big fans.
- Use large handled utensils for easy grip -
Thin utensil handles are hard to hold onto for anyone with arthritis.
Some restaurants are going to the large handle utensils for everyone.
Also consider making a large grip rubber handle steak knife available.
Stabbing food with a fork is one thing. Maintaining a grip while applying
pressure and sawing through a steak is another. Using a regular steak knife can be
hard for anyone with severe arthritis.
- Watch steps - if you have steps in your
restaurant, consider installing a ramp instead. Whether it is steps or
a ramp, consider edge lighting to illuminate the path or at least highlight the
edges.
Churches
- consider headphone system
- test sound systems with people who have
hearing aids.
- sound absorption panels to help minimize echoes
- use large screens and projectors to help see
words to music and preacher's notes
- make seats available with arms to rest
on rather than just hang down
