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Millenials vs Gen X
Millennials vs Gen X : How can you adapt to their
shopping habits?
You just have to do a search on Google Trends to understand the
fascination of marketers for the Millennial generation. They are
between 18 and 34 y.o. and you probably want to target them by all
means. In the US, they are 80 million people (more than baby boomers
and generation X, the 35-50 y.o.). They spend more online and will
account for 30% of retail sales by 2020.

You get it, you’d better try to understand the shopping habits of this
new generation. They are often described as digital natives who spend
their time on their smartphones and only buy products online. Is this
really the case? What makes Millennials di erent from their
predecessors, the Gen X?

We have investigated by focusing our research on the 4 main stages of

the purchasing process : Product discovery → Purchase motivations →
Purchase → Loyalty

Product discovery : Millennials vs. Gen X

Millennials discover products on their smartphones, a lot on social
networks

Millennials love to discover products on their smartphones. 79% of

them say that they have discovered new brands, products or services on
their smartphones. It’s not very surprising when you consider that
Millennials check their smartphones approximately 150 times a day.

Social networking accounts for one in every ve minutes spent by the

18-34, mostly on their smartphones. It is mainly on Facebook,
Instagram and now Snapchat that Millennials nd their inspirations.

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No wonder that brands targeting Millennials are investing heavily on

these platforms.  

Like Millennials, Gen X is addicted to smartphones but it favors emails

and online search to discover new products

If you think that people of the Gen X love the desktop and spend most
of their time on that device, well you are wrong. In the US, the 35-54
spend 63% of their digital time on mobile (smarphones + tablets), not
far from the 18-34 (69%).

The Gen X likes to ROPO (Research Online, Purchase O ine). They

spend a lot of time on the web to learn about the products they love,
before going into store.

Unlike Millennials, the best way to reach the 35-54 remains emails.
Gen X shoppers have always loved this communication channel, their
Facebook at that time. Plus it’s easier to measure your ROI with emails
than social networks for example.

Purchase motivations : Millennials vs Gen X

Millennials love a ordable and ethical products that resonate within
their community

Millennials are sensitive to brands that “give back to the community”.

They like the idea that their purchases can have meaning. Brands like
TOMS in the US (for every pair of shoes you buy, they give another pair
to a child in need) or Faguo in France (for every product you buy, they
plant a tree in France) have taken advantage of their ethical positioning
to build a strong and loyal customer base among the 18-34.
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The community also plays a key role among Millennials’ purchase

motivations. 84% of them explain that user generated content had an
in uence on the products they purchased. This is also a generation that
is very likely to buy on the impulse.

Despite the importance they give to product quality, Millennials are

very price sensitive. Whole Foods gets that and will launch in May 2016
the 365 Stores, stores specially dedicated to Millennials where they will
be o ered organic products at an a ordable price. In these stores, they
will also nd unusual services and products (tattoo shops, co ee
shops, bike sellers…).

Gen X shoppers are more down to earth and more immune to fashion
trends

Gen X shoppers are more down to earth. They are looking for high
quality products but at the right price. Their thinking is “it’s okay if it’s
expensive as long as the quality is worth it”. Watch the success of
brands like Made (no intermediaries, a ordable quality products) or
more recently Loom (“clothes that last and don’t cost a fortune”), a
fashion brand launched by Merci Alfred, a very popular French media
website.

Gen X shoppers are less in uenced by fashion trends than their little
brothers. They have experienced the transition from a rising economy
to a sluggish one and are more skeptical about the sincerity of brands’
messages. You have to be transparent and consistent to convince them
to buy your products. They tend to prefer niche products capable of
expressing their personality and avoiding the “one size ts all”.

Purchase : Millennials vs Gen X

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Millennials are buying more and more on mobile but it doesn’t mean
they have stopped shopping in stores, on the contrary…

Millennials can’t stop staring at their smartphones. No wonder that

they discover and buy more and more products on this device. A study
made by IAB in October 2015 in the US showed that Millennials are
more likely to buy on their smartphones than the rest of the population
(43% versus 28%).

It is then very important for retailers to o er purchase experience

perfectly designed for mobile. Indeed, if you can easily reach
Millennials on their mobile phones through social networks, you need
to streamline your mobile checkout to convert them (page load time,
form simplicity…).

These new mobile purchasing paths must however be part of an

omnichannel strategy. 68% of Millennials say they want a seamless
shopping experience, across all channels. Starbucks is a great example
of a successful omnichannel strategy. They developed a mobile app that
allows their users to purchase with their smartphones or to order their
co ee ahead and pick up in store without having to queue.

Gen X shoppers buy more and more online and also favor seamless
omnichannel purchase experiences

Gen X shoppers took the habit of buying online with 52% of the 35-50
who reported having already made a purchase online. They have also
adopted new omnichannel habits, like click and collect or reserve to
store.

The only di erence with their younger brothers, is the speed of

adoption of new shopping habits. For instance, 92% of Millennials say
they love showrooming (the fact of searching products on mobile while
visiting a store) against 80% of the members of Gen X.

Gen X shoppers are also less impulse buyers than Millennials and love
to take the time of benchmarking products. It is therefore important to
give them enough information about your products.

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Loyalty : Millennials vs Gen X

Good news, Millennials are very loyal as long as you take good care of
them…

You fear that Millennials will not be loyal to your brand ? Yet,
Millennials can be extremely loyal provided that the brand experience
address them well. They are 64% to be as or more loyal to brands than
their parents.

Gen Y shoppers want to be pampered by the brands they are loyal to.
This requires a dedicated communication that tells a story and re ects
a real brand identity. Brands like Madewell or the French success story
Sézane know perfectly how to speak to their communities.

Millennials are also fond of loyalty programs. They look for

personalized promotions that are easy to use (for instance with their
smartphones when they buy in stores). Sephora knows this. In addition
to providing a fun store experience tailored to Millennials, Sephora
personalized promotions based on customer’s pro le. Sephora has
gone even further by creating the VIB program, a program speci cally
designed for mobile and that enables its members to bene t from
exclusive rewards (private shopping sessions, studio passes…).

Gen X shoppers, loyal, demanding and “straight to the point”

Gen X shoppers are also loyal with 40% of them standing by the brands
they love. Unlike the Millennials, members of the Gen X don’t need that
brands tell them a story. What matters most to them is an outstanding
customer service. Honest and transparent brand communication is a
great way to win the heart of this generation.
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Just like the Millennials, Gen X shoppers love loyalty programs but
mainly to save money. They don’t want to engage with brands. To make
them loyal, adopt an easy-to-use loyalty program, where they can
quickly see how much money they are saving.

What if they were not so di erent?

It’s not always easy to tell the real di erence between Gen X shoppers
and Millennials. Indeed, the 35-50 have quickly adopted new
technologies. As for Millennials, mobile rst doesn’t mean the end of
the store visit, quite the contrary actually. Millennials want a seamless
omnichannel purchasing experience where the brick & mortar perfectly
ts with the new mobile habits.

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