If you're reading this site, you probably already consider yourself to be a pretty savvy shopper. After all, you educate yourself on brands, trends, designers, and sales, and when it comes time to make a purchase, you're not exactly jumping in blindly. But, according to WWD and a report on the buying habits of a specific 80 million-person U.S. population, if you want to shop smart, perhaps you should ask a millennial.
Individuals between the ages of 13 and 33, representing $200 billion in sales, have grown accustomed to shopping in a way that is quite different from previous generations. And, of course, this change is greatly attributed to technology. Pinterest, style sites, e-commerce, and mobile buying have allowed this group to experience shopping in a more communal way and get excited about what they're purchasing before they even hit the store. Which, despite the popularity and availability of online shopping, they still do, though perhaps not in the traditional way. "The brands that will win big will invite showrooming versus discouraging it," says Jeff Fromm of the Barkley ad agency, referring to the practice of perusing merchandise in stores and then later purchasing online to get the best deals. "They’re going to invite peer affirmation, they’re going to go counterculture because Millennials love disruptive schemes." And, as department stores seem to be the least popular among millennials — the experience is just not as personal as a brick-and-mortar specialty shop — the top 10 stores this generation gravitates toward include Target, Victoria's Secret PINK, H&M, and, at the very top of the list, Forever 21.
The report is chock-full of interesting tidbits that shed light on how millennials navigate the shopping and e-commerce landscape — and into whose skinny-jean pockets their billions of dollars land. Click ahead to read it all. (WWD)
Photo: Via WWD.