Table of Contents
Executive Summary
-
- Overview
- Issue: Amazon is popular, but it’s not the only place Millennials shop
- Opportunity: In-store shopping is still relevant
- Issue: reviews can prevent or prompt purchases
- Opportunity: Social media is a tool for customer communication and encouraging purchases
- What it means
The Market – What You Need to Know
Market Perspective
-
- Who are Millennials?
-
- Figure 1: Millennial consumer by key demographics, March 2019
Market Factors
-
- Single Millennials possess different shopping priorities versus married Millennials
-
- Figure 2: Distribution of households, by age of householder and type of household, 2018
- Older Millennials may have more income, but potentially face more financial responsibilities
-
- Figure 3: Household income distribution, shares by age of householder, 2017
- Millennials: not digitally native, but digitally integrated
Key Players
-
- Overview: Millennials’ brand perceptions
-
- Figure 4: Retailer perceptions, March 2019
- The good:
- The struggling:
- The unaware:
-
- Figure 5: Correspondence analysis – Principal map – Retailer perceptions, March 2019
What’s Working?
-
- The race to reach customers: expedited delivery is a hot topic
- Target keeps Millennials happy with revamped assortments
-
- Figure 6: Target email campaign, April 2019
-
- Figure 7: Target Email campaign, May 2019
What’s Struggling?
-
- Department stores’ efforts to evolve multichannel shopping go unnoticed by many Millennials
-
- Figure 8: Macy’s Instagram post, May 2019
- Figure 9: Nordstrom email campaign, September 2018
What’s Next?
-
- Renting is the new owning
-
- Figure 10: American Eagle email campaign, February 2019
- Social media will become an integral part of online shopping
-
- Figure 11: Shop Instagram profile, May 2019
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
-
- Millennials prioritize fashion and entertainment purchases online
- Amazon is preferred, but emerging retailers are of interest
- Millennials are multichannel shoppers
- Social media plays a role in Millennials’ purchases
Items Purchased and Frequency
-
- Key takeaways:
- Fashion and entertainment purchases are a top priority
-
- Figure 12: Items Purchased, March 2019
- Millennials replenish online
-
- Figure 13: Purchase frequency – NET (any monthly purchase), March 2019
- Figure 14: Birchbox in Walgreens stores, May 2019
- Dads are targets for expanding grocery initiatives
-
- Figure 15: Weekly grocery purchase (NET), by parental status, March 2019
- Hispanic Millennials fulfill beauty and personal care needs online
-
- Figure 16: Items purchased, by Hispanic origin, March 2019
Item Recipients
-
- Key takeaways:
- Recipient influences purchase
-
- Figure 17: Item recipients, March 2019
- Surprising shoppers: men fulfill beauty and fashion purchases online
-
- Figure 18: Item purchased for others (select), by gender, March 2019
- Millennial parents shop for the whole family
-
- Figure 19: Item recipients, by parental status, March 2019
-
- Figure 20: Kohl’s email campaign, June 2019
Retailers Shopped
-
- Key takeaways:
- Millennials shop a mix of established and emerging retailers
-
- Figure 21: Retailers shopped, March 2019
- Gender divide exist in retailers shopped dictated by purchase type
-
- Figure 22: Retailers shopped (select), by gender, March 2019
-
- Figure 23: Nordstrom email campaign, December 2018
- Millennial shoppers drive interest in alternative retailers
-
- Figure 24: Etsy Instagram post, April 2019
Online Shopping Behavior
-
- Key takeaways:
- Most Millennials aren’t exclusively shopping online
-
- Figure 25: Online shopping behavior, March 2019
- Parents are socially influenced shoppers
-
- Figure 26: Shop Instagram post, May 2019
- Figure 27: Online shopping behavior, by parental status, March 2019
- Young men experiment with alternative purchasing options
-
- Figure 28: Online shopping behavior, by gender and age, March 2019
Attitudes toward Online Shopping
-
- Key takeaways:
- Most Millennials’ purchase decisions are situational; fewer are intentional
-
- Figure 29: Attitudes toward online shopping, March 2019
- Online shopping concerns still exist
-
- Figure 30: Feather Instagram post, January 2019
- Parents want to try before buying
Attitudes toward Social Media and Reviews
-
- Key takeaways:
- Reviews are important and can prompt or prevent purchases
-
- Figure 31: Attitudes toward social media and product reviews, March 2019
- Younger Millennials value product reviews
-
- Figure 32: Attitudes toward product reviews, by age, March 2019
- Connecting to parents through social media
-
- Figure 33: Attitudes toward product reviews (select), parents vs non-parents, March 2019
-
- Figure 34: Tips & Tricks: Keeping Baby Dry Overnight, April 2018
Purchase Influencers
-
- Key takeaways:
- Peers, displays and digital influence Millennials’ purchases
-
- Figure 35: Purchase influencers, March 2019
- Younger Millennials are swayed by many sources
-
- Figure 36: Purchase influencers, by gender and age, March 2019
- The Influence of Influencers
- Parents value brand influence more than those without children
-
- Figure 37: Purchase influencers (select), by parental status, March 2019
Important Brand Attributes
-
- Key takeaways:
- Return policy and security are most important
-
- Figure 38: Important brand attributes (any rank), March 2019
- Gender divides: women’s considerations versus men’s
- Women consider returns, recalls and eco-friendly products
-
- Figure 39: The Honest Company Instagram post, April 2019
- Men consider alternative options, sustainability and other causes
-
- Figure 40: Brandless Instagram post, February 2019
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
-
- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Direct marketing creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
Back to top