The old method of packing retail locations into malls to attract business has certainly lost its charm to consumers and nowhere more-so than with the prime millennial demographic, according to JLL Research.
With millennials accounting for such a prime slice of of the retail demographic, they cannot simply be ignored. According to the report. “they’re on track to spend $1.4 trillion annually by 2020, accounting for roughly 30 percent of all retail sales.”
What can retailers do to attract the millennial demographic?
The study from JLL Research suggests some strategies for appealing to millennials:
1. Meet millennials via mobile and online – Millennials are technologically oriented and connect with the world through mobile devices. Mobile applications and mobile web sites are essential to connecting with millenials.
2. Offer coupons and sales – Millennials like a good deal. While they collectively wield great spending power, individually many are unemployed or underemployed. Coupons and targeted promotions work well and research shows that 38% of millennials are influenced by savings-related signs and in-store displays (compared with 28% of all shoppers).
3. Have a physical location – Millennials prefer to buy in stores. JLL Research shows that millennials will seek out good deals online but gravitate to gathering places and experiences that retail properties can offer when it comes time to buy. This gives millennials an opportunity to touch the products prior to purchase as well. Millennials like to touch and try out product
By developing you marketing plans around the way millennials connect with the world, your business can benefit.
“Millenials have strong skills with mobile devices and are apt to use those skills when shopping,” according to Kimber Johnson, Managing Director Vanity Point, he continues, “they are quick to search product reviews and look for the best prices. Retailers that give them the tools they are looking for on their mobile applications and web sites are at a definite advantage when it comes to marketing to millennials.”
Recently, Rumble released a mobile user engagement study that some key data when it comes to the behaviors of consumer mobile engagement. A key point of their data is that there are big differences in how consumers share mobile content depending on the content and the type of device they use.
Interestingly, Android users were shown to be 2 – 3 times more likely to share articles than iOS users. According to Rumble, “Although building a high-performing Android mobile app can be time intensive and expensive the Android market is continuing to grow and now represents more than half of the U.S. smartphone market”. Therefore, those publishers who want to grow their audience and reach will benefit from having an Android presence.
Additionally, if you thought the most used way users share mobile news articles was via Facebook or Twitter, you would be surprised to learn that according to Rumble, email is the top sharing method (76 percent) versus 12% who use Twitter and another 12% who use Facebook. Clearly it is important that marketers support email sharing in their mobile apps.
It was also shown that iPhone users display 3X more likely to share an article than iPad users. Clearly if your mobile model has sharing as fundamental point, your mobile application development plans should start with an Android application and follow with an iPhone application.
Rumble’s findings also show that push notification is a key engagement tool with rates as high as 70 percent of an app’s user base opening the app with just a single push. Clearly this is an excellent tool for continued engagement with your application.
Based on different studies, it is estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of people will read this post on a mobile device. Consumers and business professionals have adapted to mobile apps, devices and web sites at a rapid rate, using ‘all things mobile’ to stay connected, find information or just have fun. In a new study from Syniverse, we see just how important mobile has become for businesses.
One of the key findings is that most businesses aren’t handling mobile developments in-house. According to Synivere’s report, a full 77 percent of those surveyed are turning to outside vendors for their expertise on how to succeed in the mobile market.
Furthermore, it this survey, it is found that 92 percent of the business people surveyed believe mobile is ‘important or very important’ to their business and 84 percent ‘plan to incorporate’ mobile into upcoming marketing plans. Additionally, 88 percent say they have a ‘defined’ mobile strategy for future marketing efforts.
Of those who currently have a strategy, around half state that they are in the process of implementing it. However, only 24 percent say that their strategy has been implemented at this point and only about 10 percent say they are currently developing a mobile strategy
Businesses were quick to understand that mobile apps and web sites allow them to prosper in their local markets. Going local deepens the engagement levels of consumers. Syniverse’s data shows that 73 percent of businesses surveyed have included a location-based strategy, which allows them to use geographic profiling to better interact with shoppers.