Christian Retailing

Ypulse studies millennial shopping trends Print Email
Written by Taylor Berglund   
Thursday, 19 November 2015 12:18 PM America/New_York

ypulse-logoYpulse Inc. released Wednesday the results of its annual Holiday Shopping Survey.

The survey found that nearly two-thirds of millennials (65 percent) have established a budget for their spending this year. Millennials intend to spend, on average, $352 on holiday shopping in 2015, and their primary gift-giving recipient is mom (84 percent). Shopping for siblings (71 percent) or for dad (70 percent) is on the minds of roughly seven out of 10 millennials, while nearly three out of five millennials (58 percent) plan to shop for friends.

According to 2014 Census population estimates, 91.3 million Americans are aged 13 to 33. Factoring in this year's average holiday shopping budget, millennials are expected to spend more than $32 billion for the holidays.

Results varied dramatically between men and women as far as what millennials would like to receive for gifts. For millennial males, nearly one-third (32 percent) would prefer to receive technology, while nearly three in 10 (29 percent) would prefer cash or gift cards as a holiday gift. Lagging behind tech and money, millennial males would like to receive clothing (12 percent) or books (9 percent). Millennial females would prefer to receive money or gift cards (29 percent), followed by clothing (18 percent), technology (11 percent) or an experience (11 percent). Regarding the type of clothing they'd like to receive as a gift, more than two out of five millennial females would like to receive a new pair of boots (44 percent).

While retailers can expect more than three-quarters (77 percent) of millennials to shop Black Friday or Cyber Monday, they should expect millennials to be more cautious with their money than they were last year. Compared to 2014, millennials plan to spend 22 percent less Black Friday and 21 percent less Cyber Monday in 2015. With such a large population, the stakes are high—millennials plan on spending more than $27 billion on themselves and others during Black Friday and more than $22 billion on themselves and others Cyber Monday. All told, they are expected to spend $49.5 billion across these two shopping days.

Amazon has displaced Walmart for the top shopping spot Black Friday and is crushing the Cyber Monday competition. Best Buy has gained momentum, particularly among millennial males, while Bath & Body Works and eBay have knocked department stores like Macy's and Kohl's out of the top five retailer rankings for 2015.

Holiday traditions, particularly spending time with family and gathering for holiday meals, are very important to millennials. The data suggests millennials are conflicted when it comes to the reality of holiday shopping.

When asked a series of agree/disagree statements, the top five sentiments expressed by millennials (indicated by agreeing strongly or somewhat agreeing on a four-point scale) include “I wish that retailers didn't play games with pricing—I just want what I want at a fair price”; “I enjoy the rush of buying something at a deep discount”; “I don't think it’s right for stores to be open on Thanksgiving”; “I wish that the holidays were less focused on gifts and gifting”; and “I support companies that close their retail locations on Black Friday.”