60 million strong - and with $$ to spend
Millennials: [mil-len-ee-uhls] - aka Generation Y
A new generation of young Americans, born between 1977 and 1990. Children of Baby Boomers. Pop: 60 million. Politically engaged, raised with social networking technology.
As a Retailer did you know?
Motorola conducted research of holiday shoppers in 2009. It found that 64 percent of Gen Y shoppers used their mobile phones for in-store shopping-related activities during the holiday season. Not surprisingly, the survey found Gen Yers were almost twice as likely as Baby Boomer shoppers (33 percent) to utilize their phones in-store to conduct research. While this survey is really designed to learn more about basic shopping behaviors across all generations it provides statistics to support some conclusions:
• Gen Yers are using their phones for much more than texting
• Gen Y isn't just using their phone's internet capability
• For Gen Y, phones are a tool for making smart decisions
The Motorola survey found that 21 percent of Gen Yers used their cell phones to hop online and compare prices and/or read reviews and product information and 14 percent looked for coupons or special offers while shopping. Some Gen Yers, 10 percent, actually made purchases online, from their cell phones, while holiday shopping in-store.
The future is now. Gen Yers will make the transition to actually phone-based purchases easily. What a debit card is to Generation X, the cell phone is to Generation Y.
For a more detailed breakdown of possible retail types that would employ the cell phone paying technology, VUWI looks at one month’s sales for:
• Grocery Stores
• Clothing & Accessories
• Restaurants all types
• Total Month |
$ 44.5 billion
$ 13.3 billion
$ 48.3 billion
$185.6 billion
|
• Health & Personal Care
• General Merchandise
• Vending & Kiosk Units
|
$ 21.1 billion
$ 44.9 billion
$ 13.5 billion
|
Overall market - 270 million cell phones.
Target market - 100 million - Gen X and Gen Y consumers
One only has to witness what transpired in early 2010 to see how quickly American consumers can adapt to using the cell phone as a banking tool. A massive earthquake ravaged the poverty-stricken nation of Haiti. In this new "buying paradigm" donations poured in via text messaging - $5 to $10 per donation. This ease of "spending" is what will propel the VUWI technology to the forefront of future shopping behaviors. Studies cited three reasons why mobile donations were so prevalent after the Haiti earthquake:
• the growing population of mobile phone users,
• the immediacy of the response and
• the privacy and security of donating directly through a cell phone.
From the immediacy standpoint - consumers don't let their phone out of their sight. It has become like a fifth appendage. Consumers are able to pick up that phone and respond as soon as they've received the request to do so. It nestles in their pocket like an electronic money clip.
So what are you waiting for?
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