The big question for retailers and restaurants in Japan is how to attract seniors, regardless of what it is you sell or serve. One nonprofit Tokyo organization called Check is advising businesses to install so-called multifunction restrooms on their premises and then advertise the fact. Multifunction restrooms are larger than standard public restrooms and can accommodate wheelchairs, and the NPO's research has found that older people are more likely to patronize a business that has one.
According to a study reported in Tokyo Shimbun, the average family with at least one senior spends four hours and ¥10,000 when they go out shopping, but 20 percent also say they will likely stay out longer and spend more money if they know beforehand the location of multifunction restrooms. The study group extrapolated on its findings and speculated that in terms of time the family would stay out 30 to 120 minutes longer, and spend ¥606 more.
Check, which was founded in 2008, has made a list of some 50,000 multi-function rest rooms throughout Japan, which it provides on its website. The NPO thinks there are about 100,000, and it is providing this information to local governments so that they can use it to promote their areas to local seniors and older tourists.