The Shopping Habits of Millennials Millennials, born in the 1980s and 1990s, are in their 20s and 30s right now and they are at the peak of their spending years. They are still an enigma for retailers who need to understand the spending habits of each market segment in order to cater to them.

By the end of this decade millennials will be the majority of the working force meaning the majority of consumers so retailers must get it right or miss out on this group’s spending. Millennials grew up with technology and they have learned to do everything on their mobile gadgets. The convenience of the mobile gadget is supreme to them and they expect to use it for every part of their lives. They want to be able to buy, chat with friends, post on social media, do online research and pay for products using their gadgets (1) . However, research has shown that only 16% of millennials make the majority of their purchases on a mobile device and about 33% of them make the majority of their purchases on a computer. The rest of them shop offline. Surprisingly more millennial women shop in stores than men, maybe because of the nature of the goods (cosmetics and fashion) which must be tried and tested before purchase (2) .

Another thing that has become noticeable with millennials is that they do not value ownership like their parents did; they value experience. So they are likely to share accommodation with others, and have the flexibility to move out when it suits them and travel more. That is why retail stores struggle with sales while airlines, restaurants and movie theaters continue to thrive (3) . To take advantage of this market segment, retailers must enable this group of consumers to shop using their gadgets for convenience.

Retailer must:

• Change the way they utilize customer data, like where the customer made the last purchase, what they bought and what motivated the purchase and then use that data to make product recommendations.
• Show interest in these shoppers to create loyalty, and provide customized shopping experiences.
• Provide a seamless customer-facing shopping experience, whether online or in-store.
• Provide streamlined, user-friendly systems and processes in order to retain the millennial, the way Starbucks is winning millennials with their mobile wallets.

It is obvious that retailers cannot sit and watch while losing sales. They must change to make sure that their stores are accessible both online and offline and that they gain and retain the loyalty of the millennials.

References:

1. How Millennials are Changing Retail Patterns, https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommcgee/2017/01/23/t...

2. This is How Millenials Shop, https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/201...

3. Millennials And Shopping: How Retailers Are Missing The Mark, https://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2016/08/02...

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