Retail: Female Millennials and Brands That Work for Them

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Goldman Sachs analysts Lindsay Drucker Mann, Tiffany Hagge and Edward McLaughlin look at ‘millennials,’ a powerful new shopping generation that could significantly impact the retail sector.

Their report includes an innovative survey result: The TEEN VOGUE-GS Love List—a list of the top 50 brands that find favor with the female millennial.

Who are the ‘millennials?’

This is the age group of people in their teens to early-30s, and who were born in the period from 1980 to 2000.

They are a very significant class of shoppers because they are about to enter the peak-spending phase of their lives.

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Characteristics of millennials

This group of shoppers is:

  • Technologically savvy, always connected, more price conscious and very demanding
  • Highly affected by peer group opinions and behavior
  • Not so career ambitious
  • Financially not so well off, having a lower income profile
  • Less inclined to take on credit card debt
  • A lot of them still live with their parents
  • A larger proportion are unmarried
  • Have lesser financial responsibilities and therefore have more discretionary dollars to spend

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Millennials’ shopping habits

  • Millennials are very price fussy, partly because of lower disposable income
  • Unlike previous generations, who settled with what was in-store, millennials like to buy precisely what they want
  • They prefer a wide range of products, available conveniently
  • They value the option of customizing color, design and size
  • Their shopping is ‘more about speed and less about ceremony,’ and online is great
  • They are more brand ‘promiscuous’ and can change to a different brand at the drop of a tweet
  • Product ratings are important to them

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Survey of Female Millennials

A survey of 1,234 Teen Vogue “It Girl” Reader Panel members and a national sample of 1,912 females aged 13-29 resulted in the creation of The Love List – a list of the top 50 brands from fashion, beauty and retail that are appealing to millennial females. Also drawn up was the Brands Rising list, brands which have further growth potential.

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