Who are the millennials? This highly amorphous group born between 1980 and 2000 is made up of 80 to 90 million young people in the U.S. alone. In fact, recent trends indicate that millennials will have the strongest spending power among all age sectors by 2017.

Their lives and economic realities have been shaped by events including the rise of online culture and the recession of 2008. This means that they have significantly different buying patterns from their parents or older siblings, a change that advertisers and retail companies need to anticipate. Aside from updating the content of their inventory and advertising copy, they will also have to adopt an omnichannel approachin order to reach young people.

Here are just some ideas to consider when shaping your business to cater to this market segment:

• They are digital natives.

  The youngest among millennials have come of age completely connected to the internet. This means that they spend a large part of their lives online, and they expect your brand to be there as well.

  Building a beautiful, responsive e-commerce site can create a significant difference on your bottom line, thanks to young online shoppers. Companies need to reframe their online identity in order to appeal to this group.

• They seek out products and make purchases across different platforms.

  Millennials have been at the forefront of the rising mobile revolution, and they are not letting go their other gadgets either. They control their online shopping experiences by moving from desktop to smartphone to tablets, depending on their needs.

  Creating a webstore that performs well across different platforms requires a combination of beautiful aesthetics and a powerful e-commerce engine. For this reason, Connected Business offers topnotch skin design services that can help your webstore rise above the crowd.

• They value convenience and prefer to have options.

  One revolutionary effect of a highly connected world is the prevalence of lightning-fast communication and a proliferation of shopping options. When it comes to online shopping, millennials tend to gravitate towards companies that offer flexibility at a good price.

  Connected Business can help your company process different types of payment and shipping processes, including a store pickup feature that automatically notifies shoppers through their mobile device.

• They care about transparency and communication.

  For millennials, constant communication between them and their beloved brands foster a greater amount of trust. It’s a good idea to apply a dynamic customer support system to your business, including a live chat feature and other CRM processes available at Connected Business. This allows retailers to react quickly to any issues, address customer questions, and maintain a rapport with the public.

• They have fierce brand loyalty.

  Studies show that young people exhibit a significant amount of brand loyalty when they feel that it was earned by a company. This means that businesses should not only attract potential shoppers, they also need to constantly improve their ongoing relationship with long-term customers.
  Instituting loyalty programs and other membership perks add value to your brand and ensure repeat business.

While a lot of today’s business landscape is in flux, recent surveys and studies are starting to paint a picture of how millennials will be spending their buying power in the long run. A competitive retailer needs a robust infrastructure such as Connected Business to help them keep up with changes in technology and ensure that new market segments will be paying attention.