The annual Millennial Shopping Report, authored by retail think tank CouponFollow, was published online this week, offering scads of new data on how millennials, the largest generation in human history (at over 80 million strong), are shopping.
Within the report were, of course, plenty of useful takeaways for retailers. But first, let’s review a few facts on this demographic.
Millennials were born between 1982 and 1996 (though different entities shave off/add on years in front/back); spend nearly $600 billion annually; are poised to inherit $30 trillion from their parents; currently account for 28 percent of all daily per-person consumer spending.
The report polled 1,000 Americans between the ages of 20 and 35 from all 50 states, “representing a broad economic scope” (annual income ranged from nothing to $200,000 plus).
Here’s what the researchers found:
Millennials like to shop in stores
The report found that 53 percent of millennials make the majority of purchases offline, 31 percent make the majority of purchases online via desktop, and 16 percent make the majority of purchases online via mobile device.
Millennial women shop in stores more than millennial men
Gender plays a role in shopping location, as 56 percent of millennial women shop offline, compared to 52 percent of millennial men; 28 percent of millennial women shop online via desktop, compared to 32 percent of millennial men; and 16 percent of millennial women and men shop on mobile devices.
Younger millennials may like in-store shopping more (or perhaps, without kids, they simply have more time to do it)
Age is also a factor, as 58 percent of younger millennials (ages 20 to 23) make the majority of purchases offline—up five percentage points from the generational average; 18 percent of older millennials (ages 32 to 35) make the majority of purchases on mobile devices—up two percentage points from the generation average.
