How Do Retailers Target Millennial Spending Habits?

It’s been widely acknowledged that millennials aren’t into saving. But that doesn’t automatically translate into being reckless spenders, either, because his is a generation whose motivations are different. It’s a generation of that arrived into the workforce during the recession which has ultimately influenced and shaped shopping and spending habits. Retailers have cottoned on to these habits to offer greater convenience.

Millennials tend to come in for their fair amount of criticism by the media. Whether it’s receiving flack for not being able to afford to buy a house, spending too much on sandwiches or blowing it all on a big night out at the weekend. This is an entire generation that has been affected by a much greater distrust of the financial institutions of saving, pensions and property. So what exactly are millennials spending their money on, and how are retailers and shops reacting to these spending habits?

What are millennials spending their money on?

Going out, expensive food, holidays and having a social life are all key traits of millennial spending. But that’s not the whole story, one of the identifiable aspects of this generation’s spending habits is through the use of technology, especially mobile technology. Remember millennials still want to have fashionable clothes, a car and technological gadgets. Many will inevitably use a credit card to pay for them and most will have searched extensively online to get the lowest price in order to get the best deal.

Millennials also now find themselves with more money in their pockets as the economy improves resulting in additional disposable income. Online gaming has certainly picked up on this trend to produce a wide offering of services and products, so it isn’t in anyway surprising to find this generation happy to be playing games like Fortnite, Battle Royale or relaxing with a bit of online poker, blackjack or to emulate the real casino experience without needing to leave their house through live online roulette. All of which demonstrates the immediacy of experience that this generation craves.

Retailers are mimicking millennial habits

To continue to attract and keep customers, retailers might well be repeating the mantra of great experience, ease of use, and price and this can only be done by adopting a greater mobile user experience. Millennials are constantly online, even when physically in the retail store itself. So feeding the instant desires of a generation used to getting what they want straightaway is vital for retailers to attract market share.

Services like same-day shipping, online discounts, easy return policies, rewards that encourage instore collection and the fact that shoppers are more likely than ever to browse online before purchasing instore and key factors found by a report conducted by Dealspotr to identify strong indicators of modern millennial shopping triggers.

Millennials have faced challenges other generations haven’t making their  future seem less certain. The financial meltdown they grew up in, as wages stalled, has shaped their outlook on finance, saving and buying a house. The lack of absolutes in the economy has influenced a tendency towards more immediate gratification in shopping and spending habits whether this is through same-day delivery, eating out, short breaks or more frequent online gaming habits. And retailers are finally catching up with this trend.