Equip your clients with payment technologies that will deliver experiences millennials demand.
How to capture millennial customers’ business is keeping merchant Agents’ clients up at night. Appealing to shoppers in the 24-40 age bracket can make or break a business. Millennials are the largest generational demographic in the U.S., totaling about 80 million, and their spending power is increasing. However, this important demo is feeling the pressures of inflation more than any other group. Millennials spend more of their monthly budgets on things like used vehicles, food away from home, gasoline, and even laundromats. With prices going up more rapidly than wages, young adults are developing a negative outlook, according to a University of Michigan sentiment survey, and they may begin to pull back on discretionary spending.
Helping your merchants deliver the experiences, convenience, and value that millennial consumers demand, particularly in tough economic times, will help their businesses continue to thrive –– and represents a prime opportunity for you to grow your portfolio.
What merchant Agents need to know about millennials and inflation.
Before you can provide solutions that will create shopping experiences that millennial shoppers demand, you first need to understand them as a group. Merchant Agents should keep these key facts in mind. Millennials are:
- Digital consumers. Millennials grew up using devices. Most will readily embrace new technologies, like mobile wallets and other digital payment options.
- Expecting instant gratification. The faster the service, the better. Some millennial shoppers will even leave a store rather than wait in a long line. Contactless forms of payment, including mobile wallets or QR codes, facilitate speedy transactions and are especially popular with younger shoppers.
- Budget-minded. They look for deals, coupons, and promotions. Loyalty programs also appeal to this generation.
- Eco-conscious. Paperless transactions and other environmentally friendly initiatives appeal to this generation.
- Still spending, despite inflation. Young adults are purchasing, renovating, and furnishing homes. This makes payment plans or “layaway” for big-ticket items, like furniture and appliances, an attractive option.
Takeaways for merchant Agents.
Designing solutions that give millennials the convenience and value they demand can help your business stand apart from other merchant Agents. Work with your clients to build solutions strategically to capture millennial consumers’ business.
You can accomplish this in a variety of ways. Ramp up convenience with ecommerce options like one-click purchasing, subscription plans, and automatic re-ordering. Even if your client’s goal is to increase foot traffic to a brick-and-mortar store, keep in mind that millennials will browse online and take advantage of buy online, pickup in-store, or curbside pickup options.
Also, consider giving merchants that sell big-ticket items the option to set up payment plans while providing merchants offering subscriptions (or launching new services like curated monthly boxes), with solutions for recurring payments.
Your clients should also have the ability to accept mobile wallet and contactless card payments. as well as standard EMV card payments. Millennials, many of whom don’t have substantial savings to fall back on, may be turning to credit cards more often when making purchases. Make sure your merchants are equipped with the most modern, secure payment technologies available –– and they can transact quickly and efficiently and keep lines short.
Act now.
Merchant Agents need to reach out to their clients now to understand their plans for capturing millennial consumers’ business and be ready to support them with the payment technologies they require. Helping businesses continue to engage this large consumer demographic will help their bottom lines. But it will also help you build stronger relationships with your clients who will begin to see you as a trusted business advisor and partner rather than simply a payment solution vendor. Don’t miss this opportunity to positively impact the markets you serve and grow your business!
