Millennial consumers are now the largest population in the U.S. Also referred to as echo boomers, these children and grandchildren of the Baby Boomer generation are decidedly different than their parents in many ways.
Below are the highlights shared at the 2016 International Franchising Association’s annual event, which help to illustrate how millennials behave, and how you, as a small business owner, can relate to your audience.
Who are millennials?
- Generation Y will drive the future of retail
- Born early 1980 to late 1990; ages 18 to 34
- 2013 Accenture reports the biggest misconception: “They only shop online, have no loyalty and treat retailers the same as people on social networks“
What do millennial consumers have in common?
Unified by Digital
- No tolerance for companies that lag behind in technology
- Forty percent would give up cash completely
- Ninety percent have used a self-service kiosk
- Twenty percent choose self-checkout to avoid interacting with cashiers
- Forty seven percent use social media while shopping
- Sixty four percent will purchase online for same day delivery
Conscientious Consumers
- Millennial consumers believe in social responsibility, sustainability, gender equality and fair trade
- 2015 Nielsen survey shows that 75 percent would be willing to pay extra for “sustainable offerings”
- Top percent of brands include Nike, Apple, Samsung, Sony and Wal-Mart
- More likely to use services like Airbnb and Uber
- Spend more than any other age group on leisure activities
Higher Expectations
- Sixty percent expect to engage with a company at any time
- Retailers must focus on the mobile experience
- Eighty six percent have used their smartphone to make a purchase
- Nearly half make decisions on where to shop using mobile apps
- Sixty eight percent prefer using a smartphone camera for capturing info
Also on StartupNation.com: Marketing to Millennials Q&A
Millennials at work: loyalty, embracing change
- Lifelong careers have gone by the wayside
- May work up to 15 jobs in their lifetime
- Loyalty can vary by industry like Apple, but they’ll quickly go somewhere else and follow their friends
- The demographic has shifted the marketing landscape
- Optimistic, but 51 perecent believe that they will not get social security benefits
They’re not all broke
- Less wealth and income than previous generations
- Spending far more on things like rent and food
- Higher levels for student loan debt
- Thirty percent percent live at home, 23 percent are married with their own their homes; however, this does not mean that they don’t have money
Millennial consumers online
- Ninety two percent of millennials use the internet at least occasionally
- Seventy five percent of millennials have created a social networking profile
- Eighty percent report texting within the last 24 hours
- Twenty nine percent visit their social networking profiles several times a day (more than any other age group and more reported this highest level of use than any other level)
- Only 14 percent use Twitter but they are the most likely of any generation to do so
- Nearly as many millennials cite the internet (59 percent) as their main source of news as television (65 percent)
(Source: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/millennials)
Millennial consumers: key takeaways
- Think mobile to reach millennials
- Segmented content that is culturally specific works best
- Think values, women, diversity and purpose
- Consider all of the statistics above in order to best relate to your millennial audience
