Dive Brief:
- Millennials are currently in an age bracket ranging from college students to young parents, which makes them an elusive generation for food and beverage brands to target, according to recent research from SmartCommerce and CornNaturally.
- Members of the generation, including college students, are prime targets for manufacturers breaking into e-commerce channels because millennials are the most comfortable shopping for groceries online, according to SmartCommerce.
- Millennials' eating and purchasing habits may change when they become parents, whether they primarily cook at home, eat out, or eat prepared foods, as well as whether they shop directly from a grocery list or buy products based on their kids' preferences, according to a CornNaturally study.
Dive Insight:
Convenience, lower prices and access to products not available in stores drive millennials to shop for CPG products online, according to SmartCommerce. This suggests that manufacturers may consider offering products exclusively through their online channels, as Mondelez has through its Alibaba partnership, or with different sizes and pricing to capitalize on purchase decision influencers.
SmartCommerce called millennials' e-commerce habits "always-on" shopping, since they tend to shop online regardless of time or place. This can be challenging for manufacturers to determine strategies for when, where and how to engage with millennials to encourage e-commerce sales. But it also opens the doors for opportunities in innovative areas, such as messenger apps, where CPG brand saturation hasn't yet occurred, or cart-enabled ads.
In its report on millennial parents and their grocery shopping habits, CornNaturally segmented the generation into four categories: traditionalists, bon vivants, food purists and balance-seekers. Each group has habits that make them stand out compared to millennials without kids.
Millennial parents who are traditionalists are more likely to read the nutrition facts panel than millenials without children; bon vivants are more likely to enjoy preparing a homecooked meal; food purists are more concerned about the price of food and beverage products; and balance-seekers rank taste as more important when choosing food and beverage products.
Understanding segmentation of this generation and identifying more precise target markets can help manufacturers rein in on which benefits of their products will resonate more with different millennials, parents or otherwise.