Remedial Education- An Emerging Market among the Millennials

Jiayu Zhuo
Arashi Dreamer
Published in
3 min readOct 20, 2017

Growing up in an environment where parents almost take care of everything, we seldom have the intention or opportunity to get our hands dirty. We might know how to set up a phone to airplay a video. We might know how to arrange a trip on TripAdvisor. However, leaving all those technology stuff behind, we probably don’t know how to fix a light, change a tire, or install a water tap. Inevitably, we are entering adulthood and starting to take care of our own family.

Earlier this month, an article was published on the Wall Street Journal, revealing the new impact that millennials cause on the household market. As the 26-year-old millennials becomes the first wave of home buyers, some companies start to offer know-how courses to teach young consumers the basic housekeeping skills in a way to boost their product sales.

They found out that although the millennials are the biggest target customers, this generation has difficulties in using their products. For example, a company that sells paints to individuals for DIY house renovation would expect their customers to know how to paint a wall, but this is not the case with millennials who have little experience in helping their parents do housekeeping work. Millennials simply don’t know these skills because they are busy and haven’t come across the same need before.

Nevertheless, it is the companies who should make adjustment to this change. Briggs & Stratton Corp, which is a lawn-mower engine maker, started a professional studio last year in order to make know-how videos for its young customers. Home Depot Inc., a home improvement product retailer, hosts online tutorials to teach consumers the basic household maintenance skills; they also plan to build an in-store education center in the hope that more customers would return and make a second purchase. According to Stoner Inc., its auto, DIY, and household brands have already harvest a 20% increase of online sales thanks to online education efforts.

There is certainly a market for this remedial education. At the present, millennials have already become the largest consumer group for home buying; and they are making the most home improvements . As more and more millennials enter their prime age, starting a marriage, having a children, making decisions about home buying, the demand for remedial education is only going to grow bigger.

Anyway, the new generation is taking over the world. Whether you see it as an opportunity, it’s better to be aware of and prepared for the shift of consumer behaviors. For detail explanation about this article, please go to https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-retailers-have-a-new-target-customer-the-26-year-old-millennial-1507559181?mg=prod/accounts-wsj.

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Jiayu Zhuo
Arashi Dreamer

Digital Marketer. Marketing Analyst. NYU Grad Student. Traveler and history lover