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Sandra Halliday Published
December 20, 2025
The post-pandemic period has seen physical stores bouncing back, but retailers could be missing out on a key demographic that has money to spend as a new study shows that the over-55s are feeling somewhat neglected.
According to a consumer survey conducted by “people and place specialists” CACI, despite being satisfied with local services and leisure options, “retail is the main sector that over 55s surveyed would like to see better suited to their spending patterns”.
In fact, most people in this age group feels that “there are not enough shops tailored to them on the high street”.
This was a view shared across all people aged 55 and over, regardless of their Acorn group (CACI’s widely-cited demographic segmentation of the population).
It said that the need for more retail options is specifically more prevalent in the Northeast of the UK, with 64% of over 55s wanting to see more of the shops they like. But the gap between different areas isn’t that big and as many as 62% feel that way in Scotland, 61% in Wales, and 60% in the Southeast.
CACI said that within the Acorn groups that feature an older demographic, 63% of the ‘mature success’ group were unhappy with retail provision, 68% of ‘constrained pensioners’, 61% in ‘semi-rural maturity’, and 52% of ‘stable seniors’ – “showing that affluence is not a determining factor”.
Of course, one challenge is that plenty of stores that might have satisfied older groups have shut down. House of Fraser, Bonmarché and Hotter, for instance, are three very different businesses that have closed branches, and M&S has closed a number of branches selling its clothing/home offer, while Debenhams shut down completely.
Much of the fashion provision for this age group has moved online and while that’s fine in some ways, it’s clear that 55+ consumers also want to ‘go shopping’ physically and indulge in the social aspects of such an activity as much as younger shoppers do.
Hannah Smith, Principal Consultant at CACI, said: “High streets have changed massively in recent years, as landlords look to strike the right balance of retail, leisure, services, F&B, and civic functions in light of an ever-changing visitor dynamic. It’s interesting then to see that the majority of over-55s feel as though their retail preferences are not represented enough. The high street still delivers more of a shopping function for this generation, in comparison to younger age groups who see it as a way to fulfil more of a social or entertainment purpose.
“We recently carried out some research on the resilience and strength of the grey pound, and the brands that most resonate with an older demographic. The likes of Peacocks, Next, Dobbies and Matalan came up on top in terms of popularity, all able to capture the older spend.
“Leisure, services, and F&B will continue to be vital for the foundations of a successful high street, but it’s still necessary to have the right types of retail, to capture the wants and needs of all demographics. Understanding the right balance of offer, and the brand mix that forms it, has never been so important for engaging a visitor community.”