Grilling Up Good Times on the Fourth of July

Pam Goodfellow     

June 26, 2014

                  

With winter’s polar vortex a distant memory, summer’s warm temperatures have consumers celebrating in front of the grill.

According to NRF’s 2014 Independence Day Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, more than 153 million consumers – nearly two-thirds of those celebrating – are set to observe the Fourth of July holiday with a cookout, barbeque or picnic, spending an estimated $6.2 billion ($68.16 per household) on burgers, snacks and other food items for the occasion. This is the first year NRF asked celebrants about their spending plans on food items.


July 4th Plan Spend on Food Items - In Billions

Charts from the NRF Foundation’s Retail Insight Center. To access this data and more research please visit the Retail Insight Center.

 

While the majority will spend the day around a picnic table, many will also attend a fireworks display or community celebration (105 million) or a parade (27 million). Plans for each of those activities declined from last year, but an increasing number of celebrants are taking advantage of the three-day holiday weekend: 13.7 percent (32 million) plan to take a vacation, the highest in the survey’s history. This figure rises to nearly one in five among Millennials.

Although gas prices continue to creep upward, holiday travelers seem relatively undaunted. More than 70 percent indicate their spending for the Fourth of July will not be impacted by prices at the pump, up from nearly 65 percent a year ago.

Access more data from the NRF Independence Day Survey: Visit the Retail Insight Center.



Celebration Plans For Independence Day

Charts from the NRF Foundation’s Retail Insight Center. To access this data and more research please visit the Retail Insight Center.


 

To view the original article visit: https://nrf.com/news/grilling-good-times-the-fourth-of-july#sthash.3ipzaBKO.dpuf

Impulse Shopping Never Gets Old

Posted By Bradley Daves

 

Those dang Millennials, with their selfies and their Instagrams and their Vines.  Completely self-involved.  My generation was never like that – too “smart” to work a boring job or be taken in by advertising.    

That argument is getting tired; it has a definite “you kids stay off my lawn” vibe.  More importantly, it’s not true.  Sure, Millennials are narcissistic and self-absorbed.  So was everyone at that age.  (Heck, the Boomers celebrated “The Me Decade.”)  It’s called being young, feeling full of yourself and thinking you know more than everyone else.

That same Millennial is probably also tech-savvy, globally aware, socially conscious, collaborative and altruistic.  Clearly a better person than I am.

Except when it comes to that candy display at the cash register.  It’s true, Millennials, you’re just as impulsive as anyone else.

Impulse buying knows no generation boundaries.  She is an equal opportunity temptress.  A 2014 Gallup study showed that 42% of US millennials had made an impulse purchase in the past four weeks. Forty percent of GenX respondents and 39% of the Baby Boomers reported the same.   
Because impulse buying is not a generational thing.  It’s a human behavior thing, tapping into two primal human motivations: avoiding pain and experiencing pleasure.

It is also a profitable thing, especially with brick-and-mortar retailers.  Research by A.T. Kearney indicates that 40% of consumers spend more money than they had planned in stores, while only 25% reported online impulse shopping.

So how can a retail marketer entice the shopper (of any generation) into an impulse purchase?

Choose the right products.

Shoppers love to be surprised.  Delight them with something cunning or cute.  Provide solutions to little problems; anticipate what they might need.  Display items in logical usage or occasion groups.  Be thematic and dramatic; curate items in a lifestyle context.

Think seasonal.  Think special occasion.  Think gift (maybe for herself).  And price it right so as not to exceed the shopper’s comfort threshold.

Put them in the right place.

The classic spot for impulse items is at the front of the store, leading to or at the register.  It makes sense.  When the shopper moves to the registers to pay, she has already made some selections.  She’s primed and in the buying mood.  So rather than a dreary, shuffling line, give her a mini gallery of “hey, I didn’t think of that” items.  (Sephora and Old Navy do a particularly great job with this.)

But what if there isn’t a cash register?  What if sales associates use handheld devices to complete shopper transactions?  Entirely possible, and becoming more likely each day.  Shopper marketers must move impulse items from the front of the store and into the aisles.  They should break up symmetrical, orderly departments with unexpected collections of “I didn’t know I needed this until I saw it” merchandise.  Strategically placed sales tables, POP units, custom shelving, displays and more will add excitement to the aisle and help the shopper give in to her impulses.

Promote them well.

It is critical to quickly and clearly help the shopper see (and feel) the monetary and emotional value of an impulse item.  Smart signage does that by anticipating and answering her questions.  Signs will tell the shopper what she’s buying, why she must have it, and why she should give in and get it now.  It is important that she gets the answers she needs in the moment; the stakes aren’t quite high enough for her to seek out an associate.

Clear, attention-grabbing signage will also communicate the urgency or exclusivity of promotions.  Special deals, limited time offers, VIP discounts and bundled items will engage the shopper and help her justify her impulse purchase.


To view the original article please visit: http://www.medallionretail.com/blog-post/impulse-shopping-never-gets-old

Todays Millennial Consumers May be Picky, But They're Loyal, Too

Millennials may be down, but they're not out. See how this key demographic spends its Benjamins.

By Vicky Castro

 

@vcastro_medill

Image: Getty Images

 

It’s well known that Millennials were among the hardest hit by the economic downturn these last few years. And while it’s taken a toll on their financial strength, young people remain a key consumer base--and how they spend their cash should be top of mind for any customer-facing business.

 

That’s the focus of a new survey from Elite Daily, an online publication known as "The Voice of Generation Y," and Generation Y researcher Millennial Branding. On the whole, young people are eager to spend on technology like smartphones and cars versus, say, shelling out for a mortgage. As far as shelter goes, they would prefer to rent, according to the survey, which polled more than 1,300 Millennials in October 2014.

 

For this group of consumers, not only is brand loyalty important, but it is earned through product quality, a good customer experience, and the brand’s support for society. While 60 percent of respondents said they are often or always loyal to brands that they currently purchase, nearly half said the quality of the product is the most important attribute in a purchasing decision--more than twice that of price. And despite growing fears that all Millennials are all selfie-taking narcissists, 75 percent reported that it is either fairly important or very important that a company gives back to society instead of just making a profit.

 

A good customer experience and a “quality product” are the two most cited reasons for what influences Millennials to share information about a brand online. Sixty-two percent say that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal customer. Forty-three percent say Facebook is the social network with the most influence on their spending habits, followed by Instagram at 22 percent.

 

“If you want to connect with Millennials, then you’re going to have to rethink the way you advertise and market your product to them,” says Dan Schwabel, founder of Millennial branding. “Instead of traditional advertising, which they ignore, brands have to publish authentic content as a way of building trust and loyalty with this extremely important and influential demographic.”

            

 

 

To view the original article visit: http://www.inc.com/vicky-castro/todays-millennial-consumers-may-be-picky-but-theyre-loyal-too.html

Marketing to Millennials

By Hannah West

If your store has been around for a few years, you probably have some loyal customers you know by name. Many of these customers are part of the Baby Boomer generation and respond well to more traditional marketing and advertising.

But there is a new generation in town. When young adults born after the early 1980s reach 18, they are grouped into a category called "Millennials" or "Generation Y." Ten years ago they may have been running around your store asking their parents to purchase items FOR them, but now they have their own disposable income.

Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to get more Millennials in your doors:

1. They grew up with technology

When it comes to technology, it is like second nature to Millennials. They grew up with cell phones, computers in school and some may have even read their college textbooks on a screen rather than a page. They have plenty of ways to access information from anywhere. Millennials are not only accessing information from computers, but laptops, tablets and phones! Some fast solutions to their even faster lifestyles:

• Mention in your emails that discounts will be included if you show the email at the cash register on a cell phone.
• Share your sales, news and promotions on social media sites as well as email and traditional media. Luckily, SnapRetail makes this easy for our subscribers with an option to automatically repurpose an email for social media.

• Run Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest-exclusive promotions or contests.

• Invest in offering a smartphone app.

2. They have different priorities than older generations

Since Millennials cover a wide span of ages, your customers can range anywhere from an 18-year-old girl looking for dorm accessories to a 27-year-old father looking for a gift for his young son. Every customer is different, but Forbes.com had this to say about the spending priorities of young adult consumers: "Whereas older adults prioritized family-focused expenditures… today's Millennials spend their money on themselves, primarily on technology and travel."

 

There IS good news when it comes to Millennial shopping habits. According to a study done by Edelman Digital, 40% of Millennials claimed to prefer buying local. Appeal to Millennials' preferences by:

• Emphasizing the "shop local" movement in your marketing messages. Take note of important events such as Independent Retailer Month (July) and Small Business Saturday (November).

   

• Focusing on what products can do for individual customers in your messaging. How will this benefit them and their busy lives?

3. They love "sharable" purchases

When a Millennial loves a product, everyone knows. And if they hate it, the same rule applies. Millennials love to share their product feedback on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and any other medium possible. As much as they love telling others what to buy, they also look to the web to make their own buying decisions. Another Edelman study revealed that 42% of Millennials check four or more sources when they are trying to decide whether to pay for a product or service. This may be due to the way Millennials connect to products and what purchasing these products says about them. According to casualliving.com, "Sharability of the experience and 'association' are twice as important to Millennials as to Boomers. Millennials don't only think about how they should share their thoughts on a product, they think of how associating themselves with the product will make them look. Give them something to talk about by:

• Claim online listings on sites such as Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook places and encourage customers to check in and review.
• Encourage customers to add photos of themselves using purchases or tweet at your store to let you know how much they love their purchase or experience.

Marketing to Millennials is crucial since they are largest age group of consumers in the world. In addition to the size of this market, they are highly educated and racially diverse. The qualities of this age group in conjunction with their increasing buying power makes them worth the adjustments in your marketing.

 

To view the original article visit: http://www.snapretail.com/posts/2014/marketing-to-millennials.aspx

The Millennial Way of Shopping: More Careful, Durable, and Frugal Than You Think

 

By Claire Suddath April 25, 2014

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Remember all those articles in the early aughts about how millennials were egotistical, privileged brats who copied whatever Paris Hilton did? (Side note: Hey, remember Paris Hilton?) As the Seattle Times put it in 2005, these kids had become ”the best-dressed, least-able, least-equipped generation ever.”

None of this is true— at least, not any more. Thanks in no small part to the worst economy since the Great Depression, millennials turned into functioning adults. They have a little less disposable income than they expected, which means that consumer companies are now changing to serve them. It turns out that today’s 18-to-34 set likes clothes and gadgets and cool stuff just as much as earlier cohorts; they just don’t buy quite so much.

A study by the Intelligence Group, part of the Creative Artists Agency, tracked the shopping habits of 1,300 people aged 18 to 34 (as well as a smaller group of those aged 14 to 17.) A little more than a third of the millennials in the study buy only “necessary” purchases—not exactly the prodigal children of popular imagination.

Story: Millennials Still Feel the Recession's Bite

 

“Every young generation gets criticized by the older ones,” says Jamie Gutfreund, chief strategy officer of the Intelligence Group. “Gen X were slackers, boomers were those crazy hippies.” The millennials, she points out, “came of age during a period of unprecedented economic wealth and were the most materially gifted generation that had ever existed before.” It all amounted to a reputation for materialism in the early 2000s—until everything changed with U.S. economic turmoil. Joining the labor force during and after the recession, with its stunted job market, “was a little bit of a perfect storm,” Gutfreund says. “They’re now much more specific and intentioned with what they buy.”

As a millennial, I always enjoy an opportunity to turn to my older counterparts and say: “See, I’m not as narcissistic and entitled as you thought!” But if you’ve been paying attention to generational trends, the new study fits perfectly with other research that’s been done on millennials’ financial savviness and caution. A lot of this is the result of a recession from which many young people still haven’t recovered. The average college graduate now enters the job market owing about $30,000—just under the $34,500 average salary that someone with an undergraduate degree makes right out of college. (Which, by the way, is the lowest starting pay since 1998.)

In fact, a 2010 report from the Urban Institute found that the current generation has an average level of wealth 7 percent lower than people in their twenties and thirties enjoyed in 1983; this trend predated the recession. And considering the income stagnation that has dislodged the American middle class from being the world’s wealthiest, things might not improve for millennials for quite some time.

Story: No Faith. No Country. No Marriage. Still, Millennials Are Optimistic

That doesn’t mean millennials won’t go shopping. They just do it differently than preceding generations. And in order to get their attention, companies need new approaches to marketing.
Nearly three-fourths of millennials do online research before buying a product. They also “prioritize access over ownership,” as the Intelligence Group study puts it, which basically means millennials prefer Spotify and Netflix (NFLX) to CDs and DVDs. This non-ownership tendency extends to the rise of Zipcar (CAR), Rent the Runway, and services that don’t require a major financial commitment. When researchers ask millennials what they value, Gutfreund says responses tend to focus on experiences such as travel—things, she notes, ”that can’t be taken away from them.”
When young people do buy something, they shy from flash-in-the-pan trends to favor more durable purchases. In response, the Intelligence Group notes, companies have been “de-branding” their designs. Denim companies, for example, are selling a lot of dark and plain jeans that will stay in style for years. And the browsing habits of millennials favor brands with seamless digital-to-storefront experience whereby what’s available online is also what’s available in stores.

Story: Millennial MBAs Are Selfish, Hard to Please, and In a Hurry

This newly frugal generation has also inspired a rise in peer-to-peer, online resale markets. The Intelligence Group reports that more than half of millennials consider the resale value of an item before they make a big purchase. A lot of this is still done through established third-party sites such as EBay (EBAY) and Craigslist, but retailers like Patagonia have started to get in on the action, too.
There is one money-spending trend that the Intelligence Group study doesn’t fully explore. Millennials are about to enter the home-buying, family-starting age en masse, and that’s when big-ticket purchases become unavoidable. Right now, millennials make up about 25 percent of the U.S. workforce and spend about $200 billion a year. By 2020, when they will become the majority of the workforce, the study estimates, their annual spending will have doubled.

Just don’t expect them to buy houses and raise families the way their parents did. “They watched their parents work, work, work, buy the big house, and then lose their pension and have it taken away from them,” says Gutfreund. “They’re looking at that model and thinking, ‘I want to do this differently.’”

To view the original article please visit: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-25/millennials-are-careful-frugal-shoppers-who-buy-for-the-long-term