Aging baby boomers, who once spend a delightful childhood playing with their favorite toys, are now spending a lot on toys for their grandchildren. This tendency on the part of the baby boomers has helped toy manufacturers make colossal profits.
As per the predictions made by certain consultants, the following four years will see about 10 million grandparents. The number of grandparents increases every year. The largest number of grandparents are those who were born in 1957, a year noted by demographers for its largest number of births.
As per a survey, people above the age of 50 control around 70 percent of the wealth of America. Surveys have also shown that grandparents spend around 500 dollars per year on a single grandchild. The total amount of money that grandparents spend on their grandchildren is 30 million dollars every year. About 25 percent of the toys are, therefore, purchased by grandparents.
Activities of Companies to Attract Baby Boomer Grandparents
According to Kevin Curran, the general manager and senior vice-president of Fisher-Price, the rise in the sale of it toys can be attributed only to the rising number of grandparents. This company manufactures and sells toys that are more old-fashioned than those manufactured by other companies. Toys such as "Little People," about forty-five years old, have broken sales records. Fisher-Price also publishes a magazine called "Loving Your Grandbaby," in a bid to attract aged buyers.
KB Toys has launched the Grandparents' Rewards Club, which aims at sellings toys to grandparents at a 10 percent discount every Tuesday. This sales event is conducted in three venues in Houston--Baybrook, Almeda, and Willowbrook malls. KB toys developed this sales strategy because it was very much aware that a large segment of its consumers comprised baby boomer grandparents.
Sababa Toys aims at bringing back classic toys to the market in order to attract baby boomer grandparents. Sababa products include Grandparent's Treasure Chest Scrapbook, wood puzzles, and toys that promote learning such as Big Brain Academy and Brain Age.
How Do Boomer Grandparents Select Toys?
Baby boomer grandparents prefer toys of a certain category. They are interested in toys that promote learning and creativity, especially in art and music, toys that evoke memories of the past such as Price's Telephone and Snoopy Sniffer, and also contemporary toys such as Kid-Tough Digital Camera, a technology-driven toy that enables grandchildren to send digital photographs via e-mail to their grandparents while they are on holiday. Baby boomer grandparents are more comfortable with modern technology than any other generation. They are at ease when they purchase modern, technology-driven gadgets.
Some baby boomer grandparents take special care in selecting the toys they want their grandchildren to have. They rightly realize that children appreciate gifts such as Internet games, iPods, and CDs. However, baby boomer grandparents are not that particular about purchasing these items because they know that the kids will get it anyhow. Baby boomer grandparents are more particular about their grandchildren experiencing the same type of childhood they once enjoyed--exploring the environment, playing social games, and riding bikes with family members.
Unique Nature of Baby Boomer Grandparents
While parents give children toys in order to promote learning and creativity, baby boomer grandparents wish to promote learning in their grandchildren in unique ways They want to instil in their grandchild a love of nature and an awareness of global issues. They want to give quality time to their grandchildren so that the kids would learn about the value of family. During the kids birthdays or at Christmas, they prefer to purchase toys such as science project kits.
The generation of baby boomers has a unique history. Since the parents of baby boomers had just survived the Second World War, they wanted to ensure a safe and happy life for their chidren. Now, the grandchildren and children of these baby boomers have the best that life can offer them. Baby boomer grandparents wish to gift toys to their grandchildren as a means of going back to their own childhood days.
The character of baby boomers is just as unique as their history. They desire their grandchildren to focus on achievements and education. Baby boomers went to college and got a college degree with a strong belief that anything is possible in life. They have taught the same attitude toward life to their grandchildren too.
The toy industry in now targeting baby boomer grandparents more and more. Their love for their grandchildren, their affluence, and the fact that they have spent their money more powerfully than any other generation in the history of America are reasons for this.
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