Key factors that determine the relationship and use of e-commerce by the elderly in Spain

Abstract

This paper analyzes e-commerce's challenges and opportunities for the over-60s and delves into the motivations andconstraints that determine its use, as wellas the vision ofindustry experts on this audience so thatthis population segment fully becomes partofa digitizedsociety. It isestimatedthatin30 yearstheover-60populationwillgo from12%to22%(OrganizaciónMundial de la Salud, 2018). Europe and NorthAmerica are the most aged areas in the world: it is estimated that, in 2050, one in four people could be 65 years old or older (United Nations, 2019). In Spain, the projections of the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services indicate that "in the year 2065 people over 80 years of age will represent 18.1% of the total population" (Vidal-Domínguez et al., 2017, p. 37. The study uses a methodologicaltriangulation supportedby two qualitative techniques, focus groups andthe Delphimethod. Four focus groups were conductedconsisting of people over 60 years of age of both sexes who use the Internet, with diverse educational and socioeconomic levels, living in urban areas of variable size. The Delphi was made up by private sector experts in the field of e-commerce. The main conclusion is the absence of strategies and specific actions in commercial websitestowardsthis growing population groupandwithaninterestinincreasingtheirdigitalskills.