Millennials & Technology – E-commerce and sharing apps prosper at expense of traditional outlets

Millennials have been instrumental in the shift online for many brands. As a demographic, they prefer to shop online and socially rather than conventional methods such as high street browsing. Convenience and price competitiveness are the primary driving factors, which benefits online. This has consequences for business, with online pureplays prospering and more traditional outfits who haven't adapted to more online trends suffering. Department stores have suffered greatly, as they have been unable to adapt to new trends, forcing closures in the UK and US. Some have begun to invest in their online offerings in order to survive. Millennials have also been instrumental in the success of apps in the "gig economy" with businesses such as Airbnb, Deliveroo, and Uber coming to the fore. The effect of this has been a regulatory gap varying between cities and countries, and the rise of the gig economy as these rent seeking companies look to exploit legal gray areas to drive labor costs down.

Key Questions Answered

– What products do millennials favor?

– Why do millennials favor and purchase the types of products that they do?

– How are they different from previous generations?

– How is this affecting the food, marketing, technology and retail industries worldwide?

Scope

– Learn about the key drivers behind millennial consumer behaviour and how companies are learning to tailor their products to suit.

– Examine which types of industries and businesses are doing particularly well with millennials and which are not.

– See how millennial consumer behaviour is changing our highstreets and online spaces.

Reasons to buy

- The first generation to grow up with the internet has resulted in a boom in online shopping, and has had a leading effect on other generations. Internet access has been steadily increasing globally, and in developed nations is near full penetration rates.

- One of the main drivers of online growth is apparel purchases, with online pureplays thriving in this industry. It has also forced more conventional stores to adapt online or risk suffering. In 2015, apparel, accessories, luggage & leather goods was the largest segment of online retail, accounting for 28.9% of the sector's total value.

- The established conventional high street model of retail is considered endangered in the UK as online formats grow. In particular, traditional department store formats in several countries have suffered. ONS annual figures for 2016 show that while general business growth in the UK was registered at 17.4%, there were winners and losers- non-store retail grew by 30.7%, while clothing stores only grew 1.5% compared to December 2015.

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