According to the latest estimates, 40% of the world population is part of generation Y. In Italy, they are 25% of the total population. Due to the importance Millennials are acquiring as consumers, Tiendeo.it analyzed some of the trends related to Generation Y with the purpose of supplying brands with information regarding the habits of this considerable consumer group.
With a minimum age of around 25, Millennials are fully part of the consumer market and many of them are giving birth to what will be the next great generation of consumers: Centennials or Generation Z. For this reason, more and more retailers are focusing their attention on consumers born between 1980 and the mid-1990s with two main objectives: adapting their strategies to retain customers and establishing a strategy to attract generation Z during the next decade.
Digital natives within purchase planning
Generation Y is the first to have changed the rules of the game when it comes to traditional and digital media in Italy.
Data from The European House – Ambrosetti group show that television has a penetration percentage of 55% among Millennials, while computers and mobiles reach 67%.
In this context, Tiendeo.it data reveal that 90% of Millennial mothers plan their purchases beforehand and that 58% of them does so through online special offer and catalog tools. Nonetheless, they continue to purchase in actual stores: 8 Millennial mothers out of 10 prefer the experience provided by traditional stores, especially when it comes to interacting with a product before making a purchase.
Internet access is considered essential even when making a purchase. It is the norm for Generation Y to refer to their mobile devices when in a store. Ascend data reveal that Millennials use smartphones as they make a purchase to verify prices and products (79%) and to download vouchers (67%).
Millennials inherit brand infidelity
Despite having had better access to education, Generation Y had to enter the labor market while the economic crisis was in full swing. The difficulty in finding a proper job and the precarious conditions of their first job affected their consumer habits.
Despite the frivolous image many have of Generation Y, Millennials pay attention to what they consume and are meticulous about finding the best offers. In fact, according to Tiendeo.it data, Millenials show a level of brand infidelity similar to that of their parents. In addition, Generation Y is the most willing to abandon its favorite brand when it finds a better price: 72% of Millennials is influenced by special offers, which in turn strongly affects brand preferences. The brands that find it more difficult to retain Generation Y customers are: snacks (7%), chocolate (16%) and nappies (27%).
Centennials: the consumers of the future place their bets on physical stores
Despite all of this, many members of this generation are parents and their purchasing behaviors are influenced by the next generation - the Centennials, i.e. those born from the late 1990s.
Even though they are not yet the main decision markers within the family, Retail Drive data show they are already spending $143,000 million a year. In addition, unlike what some might imagine, physical stores are not destined to disappear. Over the last quarter of 2018, 95% of Centennials entered a shopping mall at least once against 75% of Millennials and 55% of generation X members.
Centennials seem to be even less faithful to brands than Generation Y. Tiendeo.it reveals that 7 Centennials out of 10 change brands if they find a better offer. In addition, only 12% of Generation Z members chooses private labels and they are the consumers that repeat this type of purchase less frequently.
Just like for their predecessors, special offers have a fundamental role for Centennials when making a purchase: half of them is very careful about discounts and opportunities and chooses a specific brand based on them. However, it is the generation with a lower tendency to this kind of behavior, partly because they are affected by new products introduced by brands (27% against 21% of Millennials and Baby Boomers) and advertising (15% against 4% of Generation X members and Baby Boomers).
We can therefore gather that each generation is increasingly susceptible to changing brands in case of a better offer. Consumers are entirely at ease with online channels and make purchases using various devices (mainly smartphones). Precisely for this reason, retailers must keep this behavior in mind and employ marketing tools that can help them provide new clients with relevant information through the most suitable channel at the most suitable moment.