The digital generation is here: they have graduated school, earned jobs and become stronger consumers than ever before. With this newly found purchasing power, retailers and manufacturers need to find ways to reach Millennials — a generation that is vastly different than its predecessors. So, how do retailers and manufacturers reach these generations?
Shopping in the Digital Age
Nearly 70 percent of Amazon’s shoppers completed their purchase using a mobile device in 2015, according to Time Magazine. This number is predicted to grow significantly by the 2017 holiday shopping season. Millennials – and the following generations – are growing more attached to their phones with each new app and iPhone release. The essentiality of creating a smooth mobile experience for customers is higher than ever; it needs to be fast, convenient and easy to navigate. The marketing landscape to target Millennials has largely been explored, but not every industry has kept up to develop new marketing techniques.
Breeding Ground for New Marketing Tactics
Two out of three Millennials use their mobile devices to shop in-store, and want the mobile experience to enhance their physical retail experience. A mobile-optimized website is almost required these days, and still isn’t enough to take advantage of this known opportunity. Millennials expect to find whatever they’ve seen online in the actual retail store, and they want the purchasing experience to be just as seamless. This generation doesn’t necessarily shun brick-and-mortar locations, as long as their shopping needs are met on their terms.
Hyperlocal Targeting
Millennials love to visit brick-and-mortar stores to physically inspect the product. While in the store, they often compare it to competitors products using their mobile phone. Perhaps the opportunity here is geo-targeting and iBeacon technology. iBeacon works by communicating to mobile devices over bluetooth in hyperlocal ranges. Retailers can install transmitters in store aisles to ping shoppers who have a manufacturer’s app on their phone to offer them deals on specific products. Retailers are already lowering in-store prices compared to online prices to increase foot traffic, so why stop there? A product that pings a phone while the consumer is weighing their options may increase the likelihood of a sale.
Millennials grew up with technology, and that is how retailers and manufacturers are going to reach this generation. Plenty of research provides evidence of Millennials’ dependency on their mobile phones. Therefore, industry players that integrate digital marketing tactics will find the most success.