Millennials’ shopping habits continue to reshape the retail industry.

Over a quarter of the total population of the UK is now made up of millennials. Almost seventeen million of them are second in numbers only to the Baby boomer generation. Despite having lower average incomes and greater debt than older generations, Millennials spend more online than any other demographic. Millennials make more than half of all their purchases online.

Their numbers and spending power makes them the most lucrative segment to market to but they are also the most tricky. We’ve put together the top 5 things to consider when selling to this discerning generation.

Mobile experience first.

Millennials will make online purchases anywhere, from work, from bed, even from the bathroom (20% of shoppers have admitted to this). They are always online and always connected. Millennials lives are lived via their mobiles and expect transactions over smartphones to be utterly seamless. Retailers that don’t have a focus on m-commerce need to move fast.

52% of people say they’re unlikely to re-engage with a brand following a bad mobile experience (Google).

The influence of Social Media on purchases.

This brings us neatly to our next point. A huge amount of time spent online is on social media and smartphones are a huge driver for social referrals leading to purchases.

74% of consumers rely on their social networks to make purchasing decisions. Additionally, 56% of users that follow brands on social media do so to view products. Over half of people using Instagram follow brands, this makes Instagram the social network where users are most likely to be influenced to purchase. Instagram is paying keen attention and is adapting so you can now purchase directly from the app itself.

It’s important not to underestimate the importance of social media with regards to eCommerce - Influencer content, real-person word of mouth reviews via social channels are important to the millennial.

Customer reviews.

Millennials are more likely to research products than Generation X or Baby Boomers with 8 out of 10 millennials never buying anything without checking reviews first. This is a huge factor in why millennials prefer online purchasing, 45%  admitted they buy online because they can run comparisons on products and make sure that they are getting good value for their money.

Personalisation.

Millennials do not appreciate hard-sell advertising with bold claims and detest clickbait, 63% of them use ad blockers when online. While they do not trust ads they do trust personalised recommendations and don’t mind giving away their data if it will improve their shopping experience.

One survey found that almost half of Millennials (48%) expect brands to customise offers to suit their needs.  Personalisation of mailshots, promotions and other content is also important for millennials who are most likely to go out of their way to use a customised offer (39%) compared to other age groups (32%).

Belief driven buying.

Millennials expect companies to be socially and environmentally responsible with 66% of consumers willing to pay more for sustainable brands.

Millennials respond to honesty, integrity and respect, and if your promotional content or wider marketing collateral portrays these things about you and about the customers you are attempting to target, and in the right way to catch the attention in the first place, you will be able to build your millennial consumer base effectively.

Author: Laura Roche, Marketing Coordinator, Scurri. Find out more about how Scurri connects commerce and optimises your online ordering, shipping and delivery to be simple, effective and adaptable to your needs. Check out their blog at www.scurri.com.