The word "demanding" has been added to the long list of adjectives used to describe the reputation of millennials thanks to a recent study from Dynatrace, which sheds light on this group's online shopping habits.
The five-country consumer survey on mobile shopping for the 2015 holiday season reveals that 81 percent of millennial smartphone and/or tablet users (aged 18 to 34) say they will abandon transactions and shop elsewhere if a mobile site or mobile app is buggy, slow or prone to crashes. What's more, 51 percent are likely to broadcast their complaints about poor online shopping experiences on social media.
"Mobile shopping will shatter records again this year, and the price retailers will pay for poor digital experiences will also be historic. We can see the future of retail by looking at what mobile shoppers ages 18 to 34 are doing now. They are demanding flawless customer experiences and are quick to be disappointed and complain on social media," said Erwan Paccard, director of omnichannel strategy at Dynatrace. "This 'Back to the Future' trend led by Millennials has changed retail forever. Today, companies will win or fail based on their ability to deliver great customer experiences at every digital touchpoint along the shopping journey."
Other noteworthy stats from the study show that 60 percent of millennial smartphone/tablet users and 42 percent of all smartphone/tablet users are planning to use their mobile devices to do more holiday shopping this year than last, which reached historic levels on its own. Plus, 50 percent of millennial smartphone/tablet users will do more holiday shopping on their mobile devices than they will be making purchases in-stores.
The data also shows that in-store shopping is now more digital, with 27 percent of all mobile shoppers and 37 percent of millennial mobile shoppers using their devices to make purchases when they are in stores shopping for gifts. Millennials in the U.S., however, are leading the charge, with the data showing that 71 percent are visiting brick-and-mortar stores with their devices on and ready to compare prices, read product reviews and download coupons when shopping for gifts.
Lastly, the study revealed that mobile apps are becoming an important part of omnichannel strategies, with 54 percent of millennial mobile shoppers preferring to use company-specific mobile applications rather than company websites when shopping on the small screen. According to 62 percent of millennial mobile shoppers, mobile applications are preferred because they tend to offer a better user experience than mobile websites.
"The digital revolution is affecting all industries, but is impacting highly competitive market segments like retail at an accelerated pace. Customers' behaviors and expectations are changing more quickly than most businesses can adapt, putting them at risk," said Paccard. "However, with digital performance management, dev, IT ops and business teams can get needed analytics and technical context to better collaborate and focus on delivering user experiences that maximize success."