What is Trending in Business: Part one of a two part series
by John A. Wojtecki
March 28, 2022

When operating a business, one must understand who will buy the product. Studying trends can better help the owner (entrepreneur) understand the customer, take action, and thereby improve sales.

I noticed a recent article about buying habits of Millennials, and thought it worthwhile for further examination. The article was written by Tal Berlinger and titled “New Shopping Habits Only Millennials Could Think of.”

There are a number of trends in the article that has one thinking of significant customer buying and societal trends. We will look at what is of interest to one’s customer who are Millennials in this segment, and what is out of favor for Millennials in our next article. Please understand that these are trends of significant numbers of folks in this age group. Not every Millennial follows this pattern, and there are exceptions.

What is a trend? A trend is a general direction – and I add for this article – up or down. What is trending up:

1. Convenience: Millennials seem to value their time and are willing to pay extra for slight conveniences that will make their lives that little bit easier.

2. They Absolutely Love Buying Mobile Phones: Let’s face it, Millennials are absolutely addicted to their phones. Some Millennials fork over their last few dollars (sometimes even going in debt) just to buy the brand-new iPhone.

3. YouTube as a source of Information: Many Millennials use YouTube as their source of information. You can find everything on this platform.

4. Millennials Are Opting For Rental Apps Rather Than Hotels: It seems that today’s generation is much less fond of the classic vacation package, which is why hotels’ profits are suffering. Recent services, such as the popular Airbnb, have made vacation apartment renting a much more popular and less costly option than hotels.

5. Millennials are Driving Prices Down: An interesting study recently found that Millennials pay much less attention and respect to a brand’s name, reputation, or product quality. The main decision that drives a Millennial to purchase a product from one brand over another almost always is price. Most Millennials report that they would happily switch brands if they find an alternative that is 30% cheaper.

6. They Spend a Lot More Money on Experiences: While Millennials don’t spend a lot of money on “stuff”, they do like to spend money on experiences. Many young people today pay out of pocket just to go on an amazing adventure, such as skiing, skydiving, trips, and more. Some important reasons that account for this change are social media and having a much more adventurous worldview than Generation X.
7, 8, and 9. Eating Organic, Computers, and Coffee: Millennials believe in organic foods and shun any food not promoting the organic characteristics. Computers and coffee are significant expenses for Millennials.

Next time, we will examine what Millennials have abandoned and are trending lower.

Recent Stories

Recent Shows

Get Discover Muscatine in Your Inbox

Select list(s):
en_USEnglish