What place does price occupy in the way of buying in the millennial?

The so-called millennial belongs to the generation that has the most purchasing power in global terms. But it is also the one that has more diverse buying habits, representing a real challenge for ecommerce, who must define marketing strategies to seduce them.

Unlike what happens with other buyers, for millennial the price is very important. While other types of buyers see price as one more component in their buying decision, for millenial price is key.

Price and smart consumption

The Millennial has internalized the idea of ​​intelligent consumer. They are people who make informed decisions, are very active in social networks to understand brands and that have a critical reflection attitude before making a purchase decision, as they always seek to minimize their expenses.

Therefore, when it comes to approaching a purchase proposal towards this type of buyers, the price is a very relevant fact. An interesting article in the Entrepreneur magazine (8 Shopping HabitsofMillennialsAllRetailersNeedtoKnowAbout) shows that the price and cost of the product are the factors that have the most weight in the purchase decision, above others such as brand recognition, from the ecommerce where they have made the purchase or whether the product was in stock or not.

There are many studies confirming this behaviour, such as a research conducted by Adroit Digital for the US market. This research showed that price is the factor that had the greatest influence in the purchase decision (62%) over other factors such as recommendations from friends (55%) or product quality (35%).

But, as we said before, millennial is the generation with the most diverse buying habits. The price is very important, but it is only a part for a consumer who is considered a smart buyer. A study by eMarketer at the end of 2016 on millennial of high purchasing power showed that 70% of respondents believed that brands play a very important role in their lives.

Authenticity, shopping experience and pragmatism

In addition to the importance of price, millennial highly value what they call 'the authenticity of a brand'. This authenticity is a very broad concept, and marketers often do not know how to approach it, but millennial understands that an authentic brand is one that knows their customers, understands their needs and also communicates well. And instead where millennial finds that authenticity is in social networks, where they often test brands with criticism and irony, just to see how they respond.

The buying experience is another factor that greatly influences the purchase of millennial. It is another very broad concept, in which the Omni-channel and personalization or the purchase through mobile comes together, to mention only two aspects. Mobile devices are the form most used by millennial to buy, but also to read product reviews and make price comparisons.

Even purchases within physical stores are already heavily influenced by the use of mobile devices, as highlighted by studies such as eMarketer's Christmas shopping. More than half of the buyers surveyed for that study were standing in the aisles of a store with a product in one hand and the smartphone in the other, comparing prices to make sure they were making the right purchase.

Millennial buyers are still the big challenge of ecommerce, which may have to assume that these buyers are, first and foremost, pragmatic: they do not care as much about where the product comes from or how well finished it is, as long as it has the right price.