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Blue Zones

Veenali Shah-Patel
Veenali Shah-Patel
Insight
Blue Zones

How can they inspire retail store design?

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Many Boomers view maintaining their health to achieve a longer life expectancy as their most valuable investment. Modern Boomers tend to be healthier than those of the same age in previous generations, and they are eager to leverage this generational benefit. Numerous health and wellness Brands are recognising this shift in demographic behaviour and are increasingly focusing on the Boomer generation. In this blog, we will be exploring what Blue Zones are and how they can inspire Retail Store Design.

 

Blue Zones

The term “Blue Zones” was first introduced by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Explorer, Fellow, and journalist, during a project he led in 2004. Following an expedition to Okinawa, Japan, to study longevity, Buettner set out to explore other regions reputed for high longevity.

Supported by National Geographic, Buettner and his team of scientists and demographers travelled the globe seeking communities where people not only lived longer but also enjoyed a high quality of life in their old age. Through demographic analysis and interviews with numerous centenarians, they identified nine specific lifestyle habits called the Power 9:

  • Moving Naturally – Staying active through daily routines and manual labour rather than structured exercise.
  • Purpose – Knowing your sense of purpose, called “Ikigai” by Okinawans, can add up to seven years to your life expectancy.
  • Downshift – The world’s longest-lived people have routines to relieve stress to avoid chronic inflammation associated with every major age-related illness.
  • 80% Rule – Eat until you are 80% full. The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full can determine weight loss or gain.
  • Adopting a higher plant-based diet – Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets.
  • Wine at 5 – Moderate drinkers are said to outlive non-drinkers.
  • Finding belonging – Research shows that attending faith-based services four times per month will add 4-14 years of life expectancy.
  • Loved ones first – Keeping aging parents and grandparents nearby or in the home lowers disease and mortality rates (including for the children living there too).
  • Right Tribe – Smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. The world’s longest-lived people chose–or were born into–social circles that supported healthy behaviours.

 

[Image Credit: Willian Justen de Vasconcellos]

By aligning their offerings with the principles of Blue Zones, retailers can offer a tailored customer experience, that better meet the needs of the Boomer generation, fostering customer loyalty and authenticity, ensuring shoppers feel better in the retail spaces we create. This will in turn drive footfall to physical retail spaces that offer more than the disconnected, less holistic online retail environment that has driven convenience and price above all else. As Boomers seek to maintain their health and vitality, retailers can draw inspiration from Blue Zones by incorporating features that promote longevity and well-being within the conceptual design and fabric of a shopping space.

Creating activity zones builds a customer journey that retains Boomer customers in-store longer, providing reasons to dwell and engage with content, experiences, and products. Dior’s The Space flagship store in Paris exemplifies this approach by transforming luxury retail into an immersive experience. The store features a variety of activities and spaces, including a gallery, restaurant, pastry café, three gardens, haute couture ateliers, a jeweler, and an event space for private dinners and events.

 

[Image credit: My de Sortiraparis]

By exploring age diversity in more nuanced ways than mere statistics, we can gain a deeper understanding of the elements of diversity that are most significant to us and the reasons behind their importance.

Our latest insight report ‘Boomers – Rethinking Purpose’ discusses how ageing is often treated as an unavoidable and negative economic problem, yet modern Boomers are increasingly and generally healthier than preceding generations. We cover case studies looking at PureGym, Ludofit, and G-adventures who are waking up to the change in demographic behaviour and exploring how they can exploit this generational advantage.