Millennials: We’ve spent a lot of time researching and brainstorming what exactly they want, and how it will affect the business landscape. But while we were focusing all the attention on them, there’s been another consumer tier quietly making their presence known in the retail world: bridge millennials.
According to Chainstore Age, based on findings in the Pymnts “Connected Consumer Report,” it’s the bridge millennials, a “mobile-centric” group made up of 30- to 40-year olds, who are spending more on apparel and accessories than any other generation. Millennials, on average, purchase apparel and accessories 19.3 times annually. The tech-friendly bridge millennial segment makes the most amount of purchases in this group, and 40 percent either went online to purchase clothes, or looked in the store first, and then purchased the clothes online.
With so much buying power, this group’s preferences reign supreme in the apparel world. And what do they prefer? Amazon. Twenty-five percent of bridge millennials prefer Amazon. However, 30 percent have switched or tried a new merchant in the past 30 days. In addition, 71 percent of all millennials said they would purchase from a merchant that offered a more seamless and meaningful experience.
“Brick-and-mortar stores will need to focus on becoming more digitally efficient to attract and retain customers—especially the promising bridge millennials generation,” the study said. “Retailers are now working to perfect that consumer engagement in an increasingly digital world, endeavoring to make the situation meaningful and give all generations an optimum shopping experience.”
What does this mean for the promo world? With more and more bridge millennials migrating their shopping online, and more and more bridge millennials making big moves in the business world, it’s time to start transitioning your business to online. Make a digital version of your catalog, create an e-store with virtual samples, etc., and you may find more success with the increasingly digital segments of the market.
