Younger shoppers are changing their spending patterns and retailers must take note. One in five 25-34 year olds would be happy spending more than £250 on their smartphone, while a tenth of 18-24 year olds now view their smartphone as their preferred device for buying a car.
As younger shoppers’ mobile and social media behaviour aligns their shopping activity, they are also being influenced to buy and spend more on smartphones, finds a study of millennial shoppers by Criteo.
Personalisation, experiences and freebies are driving millennials’ mobile shopping habits, with brands increasingly needing to compete on more than price across social medias and mobile.
The findings are part of a new UK-wide consumer study exploring the shopper behaviour that most impacts loyalty in the UK as part of a comprehensive study in to the lifetime value of customers to brands and retailers.
The study, which surveyed over 2,000 UK consumers, also found millennials could spell the end of price wars. 18-24 year olds are the least likely age bracket to be swayed by price when it comes to making a repeat purchase (9% less likely than the average Briton), but the most likely to be incentivised by freebies (58% more likely), added experiences (45%) and free personalisation (138%). In contrast, customer service and aftercare is the second biggest factor (after price) for those aged 55+.
The mobile high street comes of age
Heavy social media usage is translating in to mobile shopping as 64% of people who use social platforms at least once a week have made a purchase on a smartphone (40% more than the less socially savvy).
One in ten 18-34 year olds would prefer to book flights on their mobile while 12% would rather use their smartphone to book the whole holiday. What’s more 8% of 18-24 year olds would prefer to buy a car on their mobile device.
Ongoing communications such as emagazines and trend emails are a factor in securing the loyalty of one in ten (12%) 18-34 years olds while event invitations impact the same number
The findings all point to a radically evolving customer and one which brands and retailers need to engage with across a wider range of devices and channels than ever before. Today’s shopper consists of so many different data points that marketers need to improve their engagement models to keep pace with changing face of shopping.
IMAGE Pexels
