In recent years, the shopping experience at an Israeli supermarket has become a technological and alienating obstacle course for the older generation. The aisles are getting crowded, the signage is becoming digital, and human cashiers are gradually being replaced by touchscreens and payment apps.
For the young consumer, it's about saving time, but for hundreds of thousands of senior citizens in Israel, this blind race towards progress leaves them behind.
Against this backdrop, a new initiative by 'Kollel Market', from the Chabad Kollel, located in the new industrial area in Safed, is trying to go completely against the grain, and is sparking a fascinating social and economic debate about the place of the older consumer in the modern era.
The local chain has launched a focused service that will be operated every Tuesday, between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM, in which store staff members are assigned to senior citizens.
This is not another passing discount campaign, but an attempt to solve the three main weaknesses that the older consumer faces:
Orientation and physical difficulty: Close assistance in locating products between the rows and lowering heavy or distant items.
The pressure at the checkout: The checkout moments are often the most stressful for seniors, who feel stressed by the fast pace of work and the long line behind them. The presence of a human companion creates peace of mind for them.
The packing and carrying stage: Physical assistance in properly packing the groceries, to make them easier to carry outside the store and on the way home.
""For an elderly person, an action that seems simple to us is sometimes a complex project," explains Rabbi Yoram Meuda, director of the 'Kollel' in Safed and one of the initiators of the move. "It is difficult for them to run from shelf to shelf, choose fruits and vegetables, move everything to the checkout by themselves, and carry the heavy bags to the car. Our goal is not only to give them technical help, but to relieve them of the stress and physical effort that accompany every purchase in a modern supermarket today.".
Rabbi Meuda explains: "There is a tendency to promote the entire consumer system towards the younger generation, and this is welcome, but we must not forget the elderly. Making the grocery store accessible to them is not philanthropy - it is simply a necessary step.".
Will this model expand and force the entire market to recalculate its course? Time will tell.
