Meeting the demands of multiple shopper demographics using an increasing number of devices, apps and other shopping aids can be difficult for merchants without the right level of retail business intelligence to properly understand their customers' habits. Decision-makers might act on their gut, rather than fact, and miss out on key sales that could have been generated with just a little more insight. 

Some businesses experience the misconception that older generations are not comfortable digital shoppers. But according to Shoppercentric, senior shoppers in the United Kingdom are almost as likely to browse products online as their younger counterparts. Among 70-79 year olds, 70 percent of respondents looked goods up online at least once every two weeks, in comparison to 91 percent of 18-29 year olds. As much as these two age groups may differ, they represent the extremes analyzed by Shoppercentric. Among the multiple categories for 30-69 year olds, browsing habits become much more alike. 

Where older shoppers diverge from more junior consumers is in how often they follow through on their online research by buying goods on the Internet. While 67 percent of customers age 18-29 purchase items digitally every two weeks or less, only 33 percent of 70-79 year olds do the same. 

These findings emphasize the importance of omnichannel retail, as well as the fact that older customers will still utilize technology for product reviews and related research.