Millennials Understand that Social is Retail

Many marketers are still working as fast as possible to adapt to the millennial generation. As a whole, this group has some fairly different preferences when compared to their predecessors. Retailers, already under siege from declining in-person sales, are being forced to adapt in realtime.
Today’s shopper has information and opinion at their disposal. Often times, this can put them at odds with retailers who historically have benefited from big budget campaigns, celebrity endorsements and impulse shopping. Now, trends are started and transactions are starting on social.
While the web still holds the crown as the most influential source for Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers, beyond that these groups diverge. Salesforce’s recent study, “2016 Connected Shoppers Report” shows how stark the difference is:

Mobile and Social stand out as significant differentiators. As noted in the report:
When researching products, millennials are more than three times as likely to turn to social media and mobile apps (both 48%) than their Baby Boomer counterparts (both 14%).
It is easy, and sometimes convenient, to simply think about mobile and social as merely platforms through which we can deliver messaging and engage customers and prospects, but nothing could be further from the truth. In both cases, when we are on these platforms, we’re up against their personal lives even more than the competition.
Mobile and social environments offer direct tunnels into your customers lives. Our moments live along side all of their primary experiences and must stand shoulder to shoulder. As this trend becomes more obvious, so does the ultimate truth — social selling isn’t a thing, it is the thing.
How well adapted is your customer, marketing and retail experience for this highly competitive, attention-starved ecosystem? Odds are, not nearly well enough.
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Gregarious Narain is a serial entrepreneur and product strategist. A reformed designer and developer, he writes on his experiences as a founder, strategist, and father on the regular. Work with him at Before Alpha, connect on LinkedIn, follow on Facebook, or say hi on Twitter.

