It was Moses Znaimer who first came up with the idea of combining the word “Boomer” with the word “Zip” – to produce “Zoomer.” The word caught on immediately – and now is widely used to define Canada’s most important consumer segment.

When Moses developed the name “Zoomer,” the youngest Baby Boomers were 44 and the oldest were 63. Today, the oldest are turning 66 – making them “seniors” (at least, in the eyes of StatsCanada). So the definition of Zoomer has settled at 45-plus.

Based on that yardstick, the Zoomer population today is 15.1 million people. If this were a province, it would be the largest in Canada!

And because the population is so big, it translates into market domination in almost every category of spending..

Here are some of the key numbers:

• At 15.1 million people, the Zoomer population accounts for 54% of the adult population (18+) of Canada

• The Zoomer population segment (age 45-plus) is the only segment that will increase as a percentage of the total Canadian adult population over the next 20 years. Both the 18-24 segment and the 25-44 segment will decrease as a percentage of the total.

• 4.7 million Zoomer consumers have 3 or more credit cards – more than all other age groups combined, and representing 67% of all those in this category

• 12.2 million Zoomer Canadians own their own home. This accounts for half of all homeowners.

• Think they’re slowing down on spending? 1.8 million spent $1,000 or more on furniture in the past 12 months – about half (47%) of all those who spent that much on furniture.

• Even more bought large household appliances in the past 12 months – 2.5 million, or 52% of all those in this category.

• 3.8 million Zoomer Canadians spend $150 or more on food shopping every week, representing about half (48%) of all those who fall into this category.

• Zoomer Canadians dominate the financial marketplace, accounting for 65% of all those who hold stocks, RRSPs and mutual funds, and over 80% of all those with total securities and savings of $500,000 or more

• No other age group travels as much or spend as much when they travel. Zoomer travelers represent the largest market for virtually every category:

• Largest market for travel within Canada
• Largest market for travel to the USA
• Largest market for travel to Mexico and the Caribbean
• Largest market for travel to Europe
• Largest market for cruises
• Largest market for exotic destinations

• Zoomer consumers accounts for 80% of all health care spending, and 70% of all OTC purchases

For marketers, the conclusion is clear: you can’t hit your numbers without marketing to Zoomer consumers.

To dig deeper – and to learn more about the important marketing communications services ZoomerMedia offers – click to go to the ZoomerU page.