With more than a quarter of Japan’s population aged 65 or over, payday is increasingly considered to be not only the 25th of the month—the day when most employees receive their wages—but also the 15th of every even-numbered month, when the national pension system transfers funds to the accounts of pensioners.
This demographic change, reports the Nikkei Marketing Journal (4 July), is spurring more retailers to engage in commercial activities timed to correspond with the day seniors receive their disposable income.
The commercial battle for pension money, dubbed nenkin shosen, has become one of the long-term survival strategies of supermarkets, department stores, chemists and other businesses. However, to keep things simple, many businesses are extending their special deals from the 25th of one month to the 15th of the next and, sometimes, even to other days as well.
On the 15th and 25th of every month, for example, Ito Yokado supermarkets offer a 5% discount to shoppers aged over 60 who make payments using nanaco prepaid IC cards. Similar deals are offered by Life Corporation, shops in the Arcs Group, and YorkMart—which offers one free home delivery each month.
Takashimaya department stores apply stamps to bonus cards for certain purchases made between the 15th and the 20th of each month. At branches of Tobu Department Store Co., Ltd., seniors making purchases totalling over ¥5,000 in the women’s department receive a ¥1,000 gift voucher. And, at drugstores operated by Welcia Holdings, the 15th and 16th of each month have been designated Seniors’ Day, when shoppers aged 65 and over are entitled to triple bonus T-Points.
To attract more seniors, Gusto, a chain of family restaurants operated by Skylark Group, has moved forward the release date of its Grand Menu of new offerings by one day, from the 16th of each month to the 15th.
Pensions are making a growing contribution to overall income. According to a survey of people’s basic living conditions conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the percentage of average household income obtained from public pensions has more than doubled over the past two decades. It reached 21% in 2014, up from 9.5% in 1995. There are about 30% more female than male seniors.
As the percentage of women who pay into the pension system through their employer is expected to continue rising, so also is their influence on marketing, as consumers with purchasing potential.
In fashion-related retailing, promotions aimed especially at seniors tend to turn off other shoppers and so are generally avoided. But even shops that do not go out of their way to appeal to the older age segment are aware of a spike in business around the 15th of even-numbered months.
Takashi Shiratsuchi, president of apparel retailer Mac-House Co. Ltd., was quoted by the Nikkei Marketing Journal, “It’s clear that items do move on days of pension payouts”.