Gaining millennial interest for a CPG brand is a common challenge marketers face. Grocery retail apps could be the answer. Millennial purchase behaviors are often erratic, not due to the fact that millennials themselves are erratic, but because of their reliance on technology.

Currently, millennials make up one of the largest buying groups in existence. Understanding their behavior is the key for CPG brands to maintain their relevance and their market share in today’s crowded marketplace. Millennials are the first generation to grow up with access to the internet. They use it as a tool to influence their everyday purchase decisions. Because of that fact, the internet has a profound impact on their buying behaviors.

CPG brands that want to attract their attention must be willing to do so through technology—specifically, through retail in-store apps. Grocery retail apps can help a brand connect with a millennial audience, often simply by being conveniently available to consult as they make their purchase decisions.

How Millennials Shifted the Marketing Paradigm

Chances are, you’ve noticed how important the smartphone is to millennials. The average  millennial touches their phone 150 times a day. This behavior doesn’t mean they’re addicted to their cell phones, per se; instead, it’s due to the fact that the smartphone is this generation’s television. It doesn’t just provide entertainment, it connects them to the world.  

Millennial-focused marketing is a major paradigm shift for many marketing and advertising professionals because social media and digital marketing have created a more transparent and direct connection between brands and these consumers. Millennial shoppers also have more access to information period, whether that information is about international politics, financial matters, or new trends and products. Because of the major role the internet has played in their lives, millennials typically are:

• Socially responsible: The first Earth Day was held in 1970 but it didn’t gain widespread popularity until the early 80s, which is when the first millennials were born. Millennials grew up with an environmental conscientiousness that wasn’t seen in generations that came before them. As a result, brands that focus on digital marketing, which does not unnecessarily waste resources, tend to resonate well with them.
• Fiscally savvy: About one-third of millennials have a financial or savings plan in place. That far exceeds the planning of older generations, including Generation X and even baby boomers. Millennials seem to have learned from the mistakes of those who came before them, planning for retirement early and keeping unnecessary spending down.
• Highly sensitive to scarcity: Because of their easy ability to access up-to-the-minute information on just about everything, millennials are more easily impacted by scarcity, otherwise known as the “fear of missing out,” or FOMO.

Millennials depend on technology to help them make informed decisions. They are open about sharing their signals of purchase intent if it makes their brand experience better. In the past, the internet may have been used as a resource for researching high-ticket items. However, because millennials live in an age flush with accessible data, even their small dollar purchase decisions are likely to be impacted by the abundance of information they can conveniently access. This is why grocery apps act as such a major persuader to the millennial market.

Using Grocery Retail Apps to Impact Millennial Purchase Decisions

Millennials don’t just want to buy from a brand; they want to create a relationship with that brand. They are attracted by brand awareness campaigns that create a real and genuine relationship. This is why mobile marketing is such a powerful purchase influencer for them as it:

• Offers Rewards: Apps like Shopkick, a retail shopping rewards app, provide recognition for making smart purchase decisions in the form of reward points that users can later redeem for gift cards. This acts as an efficient purchase driver as, often, the perceived value of these kicks is even higher than the dollar amount they cost marketers.
• Creates a social environment: Users of grocery shopping apps, like Shopkick, are encouraged to share their shopping and saving experiences online via Facebook and other popular social platforms. This creates a community of fiscally savvy consumers who discuss money-saving tips.
• Communicates in the moment: As already discussed, millennial consumers touch their phones hundreds of times a day. An app that can connect with them as they’re in the shopping aisle is extraordinarily effective for gaining brand recognition.
• Extends social responsibility: Digital apps offer a benefit that paper circulars and advertising materials can’t: They’re scalable and responsible. That means that millennials don’t have to worry about the waste involved with paper coupons or offers—and brands don’t have to spend money printing materials.  

Today’s millennial consumers are not coupon clippers, but they are fiscally intelligent. They want to save money while they’re saving the environment. This is why grocery retail apps are so appealing to this group. They allow shoppers to collect the rewards that make them feel fiscally responsible while limiting the waste of paper coupons or rebates.

Millennial shoppers are informed shoppers. They don’t want to just buy from a CPG brand, they want to know more about the brand than the product they sell. They want to know where that product came from, how it was sourced, and how it can make their lives better. Marketing to the millennial consumer is therefore not just about sales; it’s about providing a free exchange of information.  Using technology, brands can better express their sustainability methods, money-saving ideas, and incentivized sales in a way that truly resonates with these new consumers.

Shopkick offers a platform for fiscally savvy millennials to explore while our partners get the opportunity to interact more thoroughly with this unique consumer base. For more information on how our platform creates relationships with today’s millennial consumer, contact us today.

Image courtesy GeorgeRudy