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How Millennials Embrace and Reinvent Online Shopping
Business Oct 12, 2017
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By Sadie Gribbon
Millennials love buying things but hate actually leaving their apartments to do so. As a generation nurtured by infinite access to the internet, physically participating in America’s favorite past time, consumption, is too mundane to bear. Instead, we click our way to stocking our closets and our pantries.
Millennials spend more money each year shopping online than any other age demographic. The average amount spent by any given Millennial is $2,000.
It’s skewed to view MIllennials as purely lazy because they like buying things online, in some cases it is actually cheaper, not just convenient. When done properly, using credit cards from the company/store, online codes, free shipping offers and “deals of the day” can rack up huge savings.
The most obvious site Millennials tend to throw all of their money at is Amazon. The robot driven company has become the most relevant brand to Millennials according to a survey done by Prophet in 2016. For Millennials who are still students, online shopping is a source to buy books from other students for far cheaper than market value. But books aren’t the only reason why Millennials are all over the site. Student discounted Prime memberships gives them free shipping, which adds up quickly when purchasing online.
It isn’t just the tangible items Millennials want though. Thanks to streaming sources from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Millennials have stamped rental movie stores like Blockbuster into ancient history in exchange for monthly fees and nearly unlimited access to their favorite shows and movies.
Even when it comes to grocery shopping, Millennials are willing to fork up the extra cash to not only avoid a trip to the store, but have somebody come into their home and stock up their fridge. In a recent report, purchasing groceries online is 24.6 percent higher, plus tacked on delivery charges. For those who live in big cities and don’t have easy access or use public transportation the convenience is worth it and could lead to costing less when buying in high volume.
With new lock technology, the shopper just leaves a one-time passcode set from their phone and the freelance driver drops off their groceries and even puts them away in the fridge.
Millennials live fast-paced lives, even if it isn’t cheaper, the convenience is worth it.
Apps like UberEats and Postmates have not only provided jobs for young Millennials to scrape together extra cash, but to feed their gluttonous desires. Using these types of apps makes any restaurant as accessible as a pizza place that delivers. When weighing the cost of putting on shoes and a socially acceptable outfit against delivery fees, sometimes it is more than worth it.
To take it one step further, buying clothes online can be a hassle because it is nearly impossible to know what fits.
Millennials have solved some of the problems they face while online shopping. Millennial Katrina Lake created StitchFix to solve the problem of buying clothes online. Instead, the site sends a trunk of clothes to be tried on customers just send back whatever they don’t want.
Without the inventions and purchasing power of Millennials, companies and apps that deliver convenience could become extinct. Although generations before may think Millennials are lazy, they too have benefitted from the utilization of convenience held up by a generation that grew up with their fingers glued to a keyboard.
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