Are you behind the smartphone age curve?

A recent Nielsen study shows that the vast majority of smart phone users are under 45 with ages 25-34 making up the most mobile age group with 62 percent owning smartphones, a 21 percent increase since last year.

But don’t be deceived, Jamie Carracher of Edelman, Inc, write, “In 2011, some of the nearly 80 million Baby Boomers in the United States have turned 65 and are now “officially” senior citizens. Need context? Vint Cerf, Google’s chief Internet evangelist and one of the fathers of the Internet, turns 68 in June. The web, often viewed as a realm for just the young, is getting older.

Carracher goes on to say, “It’s no secret that senior citizens have typically been slow to use new technologies, including social media. But recent trends show older people are among the fastest-growing demographics online.  While overall usage of mobile devices is still relatively small among older people, it’s important to note that usage is growing, and in surprising ways. Older people are gaming on their phones. Around 13% of 55- to 64-year-olds and 5% of people 65 and older play games using a smartphone or standard cellphone.  “If it’s good technology, seniors embrace it the same as everyone else,” he said. “The key here is if it is truly ‘good’ and they see a real use for it, whether for entertainment or business or lifestyle. They are smart shoppers who aren’t so much interested in useless ‘bells and whistles’ many products contain.”

We’d warn that as a retailer today you are behind the curve if you aren’t study your customer’s behavior in order to provide the kind of engaging smartphone apps that help them shop your stores. But to be a leading edge retailer means that you are also developing engaging apps with older customers in mind as well.  In fact, catering to older customers can mean setting the curve rather than responding to it.