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Millennials vs Baby Boomers: Who Has More Credit Cards?

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Millennials have been increasing their credit card balances. See how they compare to Baby Boomers who have been shrinking their credit card balance.

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Millennials, or members of Generation Y (also known as Gen Y) were born between 1982 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau estimates that there are 83.1 million millennials in the U.S., and the Pew Research Center found that millennials surpassed baby boomers (boomers) to become the largest living generation in the United States in 2016.

Millennials are separated from the older generation before them (Generation X) and the generation that followed them (Generation Z).

Millennial Characteristics

As expected by their birth years, the Millennial generation makes up the fastest growing segment of the workforce. As companies compete for available talent, employers simply cannot ignore the needs, desires, and attitudes of this vast generation. As with each generation that preceded it, Millennials have come to be defined by a set of characteristics formed mainly by the world and culture they grew up in. Here are a few of their common characteristics.

Millennials are Tech-Savvy

Generation Y grew up with technology, and they rely on it to perform their jobs better. Armed with smartphones, laptops, and other gadgets, this generation is plugged in 24/7. They like to communicate through email, text messaging, and whatever new social media platform (i.e., Twitter, Instagram) friends and colleagues are using. This is a generation that can't even imagine a world without the internet or cell phones.

Millennials Are Family-Centric

The fast-track lifestyle has lost much of its appeal for millennials. The members of this generation are willing to trade high pay for fewer billable hours, flexible schedules, and a better work/life balance. Although older generations may view this attitude as narcissistic or see it as a lack of commitment, discipline, and drive, Millennials have a different idea of workplace expectations. Millennials usually prioritize family over work, and even those who aren't married with children feel the need to be a part of a family and spend time with nieces, nephews, and siblings.

Millennials Are Achievement-Oriented

Nurtured and pampered by parents who didn't want to make the mistakes of the previous generation, millennials are confident, ambitious, and achievement-oriented. They also have high expectations of their employers, tend to seek new challenges at work, and aren't afraid to question authority. Generation Y wants meaningful work and a solid learning curve.

Millennials are Team-Oriented

While growing up, most Millennial boys and girls participated in team sports, playgroups, and other group activities, whether it was soccer or ballet. They value teamwork and seek the input and affirmation of others. Millennials are the true no-person-left-behind generation, loyal and committed. They want to be included and involved.

Generation Y Craves Attention

Generation Y craves feedback and guidance. They appreciate being kept in the loop and often need frequent praise and reassurance. Millennials may benefit greatly from mentors who can help guide and develop their talents. This is where the boomers come in handy because (though mostly retired), they have something to offer and see mentoring millennials is one way they can continue to contribute to the workforce.

Generation Y Is Prone to Job-Hopping

A potential downside of Generation Y workers is that they're always looking for something new and better. It's not uncommon for a millennial to stay with a firm for only two or three years before moving on to a position they think is better. The resumes you receive from millennial job seekers will undoubtedly demonstrate this peppered job history.

Don't discount members of this generation just because they've worked for several firms-these young employees bring with them a variety of experiences. Unlike previous generations, they do not take a job and then hold onto it for as long as humanly possible. Instead, they go out and create a new app or fund a trendy start-up.

The Bottom Line About Millennials

Generation Y possesses many characteristics that are unique in comparison to past generations. They tend to be excited about their jobs, and they will work hard and efficiently. They might approach their superiors as equals more so than previous generations, but companies can take steps to draw a line between supervisor and friend. When that line is drawn, millennials will not only work tirelessly for you, but they will show you the respect due to a supervisor with many years experience.

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Learn About the Common Characteristics of Millenial Professionals

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Millennials, or members of Generation Y (also known as Gen Y) were born between 1982 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau estimates that there are 83.1 million millennials in the U.S., and the Pew Research Center found that millennials surpassed baby boomers (boomers) to become the largest living generation in the United States in 2016.

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'The average salary of a 30-year-old last year was £23,700'

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Many millennials are earning significantly less than they predicted when they were younger and have not entered the career they hoped for, new analysis shows.

The Office for National Statistics found big differences between the salary and career aspirations of 16 to 21-year-olds in 2011/12 and the actual attainment of older age groups.

Half of 16 to 17-year-olds expected to earn £35,000 by the age of 30 if they'd achieved a degree and £25,000 if they did not have a degree but the average salary of a 30-year-old last year was £23,700.

Just 7 per cent of those with degrees and a quarter of those without degrees thought they would be earning less than £20,000 by the age of 30. But in reality, 37 per cent of 22 to 29-year-olds last year were in this earnings bracket.

At the top end, 5 per cent predicted they would be earning over £80,000 but just 2 per cent hit this target.

Career ambitions were found to also be out of step with reality. Artistic, literary and media jobs were the most popular choice in 2011/12, cited by more than 11 per cent of 16 to 21-year-olds, but just 1.4 per cent were actually in those careers last year.

Almost 9 per cent said they wanted to be teachers compared to 4.5 per cent who did so. In healthcare the discrepancy was wider at 8.2 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

The most common work for the older group turned out to be as sales assistants or cashiers, accounting for 6.2 per cent of employment for 22 to 29-year-olds last year.

The data will add to a feeling among some millennials (those born between the early 1980s and late 1990s) that they have been hard done by economically.

Coming of age in the post-financial crisis era has meant lower wages and fewer chances for career progression than the previous generation.

British millennials experienced a 13 per cent drop in real hourly earnings between 2007 and 2014.

Only Greece, where real earnings slumped by 25 per cent over the same period as the eurozone country plunged into depression, saw a worst performance for this age group among the dozen advanced economies, the Resolution Foundation found.

But the ONS' analysis suggests that British millennials may at least have made peace with the idea of earning less.

Job satisfaction and security were much more important to young people than a high income, the ONS said.

In 2015 to 2016, 71 per cent of them thought that having an interesting job was very important, while 60 per cent felt that job security was very important.

This figure has only increased by three percentage points since 2010 to 2011, despite the increase in zero-hour contracts and the so-called gig economy.

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Millennials earn significantly less money than they expected when they were younger, data shows

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Many millennials are earning significantly less than they predicted when they were younger and have not entered the career they hoped for, new analysis shows. The Office for National Statistics found big differences between the salary and career aspirations of 16 to 21-year-olds in 2011/12 and the actual attainment of older age groups.

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Teenagers, twenty- and thirty-somethings have been dubbed the Millennial Generation, or simply Millennials. But what does it mean? And how old is too old to be a Millennial?

Generation Y Definition

The term Millennials generally refers to the generation of people born between the early 1980s and 1990s, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Some people also include children born in the early 2000s.

The Millennial Generation is also known as Generation Y, because it comes after Generation X - those people between the early 1960s and the 1980s. The publication Ad Age was one of the first to coin the term "Generation Y," in an editorial in August 1993. But the term didn't age well, and "Millennials" has largely overtaken it. But the terms basically mean the same thing.

Millennials characteristics

Millennials have been characterized in a number of different ways. On the negative side, they've been described as lazy, narcissistic and prone to jump from job to job. The 2008 book "Trophy Kids" by Ron Alsop discusses how many young people have been rewarded for minimal accomplishments (such as mere participation) in competitive sports, and have unrealistic expectations of working life.

A story in Time magazine said polls show that Millennials "want flexible work schedules, more 'me time' on the job, and nearly nonstop feedback and career advice from managers." Another Time story in May 2013, titled "The Me Me Me Generation," begins: "They're narcissistic. They're lazy. They're coddled. They're even a bit delusional. Those aren't just unfounded negative stereotypes about 80 million Americans born roughly between 1980 and 2000. They're backed up by a decade of sociological research." The article also points out that Millennials may be simply adapting quickly to a world undergoing rapid technological change.

A 2012 study found Millennials to be "more civically and politically disengaged, more focused on materialistic values, and less concerned about helping the larger community than were GenX (born 1962-1981) and Baby Boomers (born 1946 to about 1961) at the same ages," according to USA Today. "The trend is more of an emphasis on extrinsic values such as money, fame, and image, and less emphasis on intrinsic values such as self-acceptance, group affiliation and community." The study was based on an analysis of two large databases of 9 million high school seniors or entering college students.

They have also been described in positive ways. They are generally regarded as being more open-minded, and more supportive of gay rights and equal rights for minorities. Other positives adjectives to describe them include confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and receptive to new ideas and ways of living.

Though viewed as more liberal, some Millennials are bucking the trend. A study published March 31, 2017 by the Council on Contemporary Families found that high school seniors increasingly believe that the man should be the bread-winner in a relationship and a woman should care for the home. "It's been a steady reversal," said study co-author Joanna Pepin, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Maryland.

In addition, it seems that this generation may be having less sex that any other generation before it. In a survey of more than 26,000 American adults, about 15 percent of Millennials between 20 and 24 reported having no sexual partners since the age of 18. Only 6 percent of GenXers (people born in the 1960s) could claim the same. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016 also found that teen Millennials were less sexually active that previous generations.

Millennials are also more likely to use public libraries than other generations, according to the Pew Research Center.

Generation Me

There is a spirited, if not tiresome, debate about whether Millennials are self-entitled narcissists or open-minded do-gooders; surely the truth lies somewhere in-between. Generally, however, there does seem to be more of an emphasis on the self than in previous generations, one reason why this group has been called Generation Me. Research presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in San Diego found that Millennials themselves do believe that they are more narcissistic that previous generations, but they don't like it. Also, the uptick in narcissism is only very slight when compared with other generations.

"We're not talking about two generations ago, people were just completely selfless, and in this generation we're trying to kill each other to watch the next season of something on Netflix," Joshua Grubbs, a doctoral candidate at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. [ Millennials See Themselves As Narcissistic, Too (And It Bothers Them)]

The self-centered life approach may be due to the rise of individualism in society. "There is a very consistent and reliable trend where all indicators of individualism [have] been on the rise over the course of the last 100 years," Igor Grossman, a psychologist at the University of Waterloo, told an audience at the SPSP meeting.

Other scholars have pointed out that the attempt to make generalizations about an entire generation is a futile effort. Further, some have suggested that discussion of "Millennials" tends to focus on mostly white youth from suburban areas, ignoring the unique experience of immigrants and minorities.
Additional reporting by Alina Bradford, Live Science contributor. Additional resources

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Teenagers, twenty- and thirty-somethings have been dubbed the Millennial Generation, or simply Millennials. But what does it mean? And how old is too old to be a Millennial? The term Millennials generally refers to the generation of people born between the early 1980s and 1990s, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

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'The employment rate is good, many are in part-time work or self-employed'

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Generation Y is the first generation in recorded history which is projected to be worse off than those which came before.
This week, BBC Scotland is looking at the lives of millennials and how they stack up next to the experiences of their parents and grandparents.

But who are the millennials?

In simple terms, Generation Y is the latest in a series of demographic cohorts which have been given slightly odd names in a bid to define them as a collective cultural group.

First there were the Baby Boomers, those born during a spike in the birth rate following the Second World War through to the early to mid 1960s.

The next demographic bump was Generation X, those born from the early to mid 60s through to the start of the 1980s; the "MTV generation".

Then we come to Generation Y, the millennials. Born from the early 80s through to the turn of the Millennium, this is a cohort which largely came of age at the outset of a global financial crisis, but also amid a vast acceleration in digital technology.

Incidentally the following generation, those born since the millennium, has in turn been dubbed Generation Z: the "digital natives" who have no recollection of a world without smart devices and broadband internet.

Scotland's National Records keep track of the country's population. They record more than 1.4m Scots residents who were born between 1980 and 2000, with slightly more women than men among them (a trend also reflected across the populace as a whole).

Starting from early life, Generation Y are more likely to stay on in full-time or further education than those who went before; the number of graduates more than doubled between 1984 and 2013.

Older generations were more likely to leave school at an earlier age, sometimes with no qualifications - something which is now very rare.

Only about 6% of 16 to 34-year-olds in Scotland have no qualifications at all; the figure for those aged 35 to 64 is more than double that, and for those over 65 it doubles again to more than a third. However those over-65s are much more likely to have other, non-academic qualifications.

Jobs market

After education, Generation Y are heading into an unpredictable jobs market. The employment rate is good, but many are in part-time work or self-employed, and they have faced the largest falls in real average earning in the wake of the 2008 recession.

According to the most recent set of labour market statistics, just over 71% of 16 to 34-year-olds are in employment, 5.7% are unemployed and 24.7% are economically inactive - many of them students or carers.

For those aged 35 to 64, the same figures are just over 77% employed, 2.9% unemployed, and 20.6% inactive.

But how good is the work?

Millennials in their 20s are 25% more likely to work part-time than members of Generation X were when they were at the same age. During their 20s, they are projected to earn £8,000 less than their GenX equivalents.

Much has been made of zero-hours contracts, a form of employment which has grown more common over the past decade; between 2003 and 2005 they sat at 0.4% of all contracts, UK-wide, but increased to 2.8% by the end of 2016.

Those on zero-hours contracts, where employers are not obliged to provide any minimum hours, are often young. According to labour market statistics released in May, a third of people on these casual contracts are aged 16 to 24.

Some people like the flexibility offered by a zero-hours contract, under which workers are not obliged to actually accept any work offered. But others see them as being exploitative and lacking in job and income security.

In Scotland, the most recent statistics list 2.2% of workers as being on zero-hours contracts, a figure which is the lowest on the UK mainland. The UK-wide figure rose from 2.5% to 2.8% in 2016, driven mainly by an increase in England from 2.6% to 3%.

Wages

People on zero-hours contracts are still paid the minimum wage, but the number of hours they work can vary to a large degree. The proportion of people in part-time or casual employment contributes to a significant disparity in average overall pay between generations.

In 2016, the median pay of Scots aged 18 to 21 was £200 a week. Those aged 22 to 29, who were more likely to be in full-time work, were paid £387 a week, and those aged 30 to 39, and thus more experienced in the labour market, £482.

The peak median weekly wage was for those aged between 40 and 49, at £494. Thereafter the figure falls back, with those aged 50 to 59 earning a median £470 per week.

A tougher employment scene makes it hard to get on the housing ladder - research by the House of Commons Library found that 59% of households led by a millennial are renting, with 38% owning their own home - whereas 20 years ago young people were more likely to own than rent.

There has also been a slight increase in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who are still living with their parents - this is the case for 14% of millennials UK-wide.

Generation Y is collectively a more diverse and socially liberal grouping than those who were born earlier; north of the border just under three-quarters of 16- to 34-year-olds identify as white Scottish, compared to over 80% of the older population.

However, they are also less likely to make their voice heard at the ballot box.

In the 2015 election, two-thirds of baby boomers voters turned out on polling day, compared to 56% of generation X and 46% of voting-age millennials.

This shifted somewhat in the snap election of 2017, when young people turned out in greater numbers - but they were still dwarfed by the proportions of older generations turning out.

YouGov found that 57% of teenage voters turned out in June, and 59% of those aged 20 to 24 - compared with 71% of those in the 50 to 59 bracket, 77% in the 60 to 69 cohort and a whopping 84% of those over 70.

Settling down

Those in Generation Y are far more likely to be single than those amid older generations.

Almost 80% of Scots aged 16 to 34 have never been married, compared to only about a sixth of those older.

This is not just because they have had less lifespan in which to meet a partner and settle down - people are getting married later and later in life.

In 1980, the average age at which people in Scotland first got married was 24.5 for men and 22.6 for women. By 2000 these figures were 30.5 and 28.6 respectively; in 2016 they were 33.9 and 32.2.

And less people are getting married now, in total; in 1980 there were 38,500 marriages in Scotland. By 2000 it was 30,367, and in 2016 it was 29,229.

When millennials do get married, its less likely to be in a church; Generation Y is also less religious than those which came before it.

Almost two-thirds of 16- to 34-year-olds in Scotland say they have no religion at all, far higher than proportion of those older; less than a third of those over 65 gave this answer.

These broad trends are instructive in their own way, but at the end of the day everyone has their own unique experience. BBC Scotland will be covering the lives of Generation Y in Scotland all this week.

Send in your comments and questions via social media using #BBCGenY or to newsonlinescotland@bbc.co.uk.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

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Meet the millennials: Who are Generation Y?

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Generation Y is the first generation in recorded history projected to be worse off than those which came before.

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Marriages in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

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Marriages in England and Wales by age, sex, previous marital status and civil or religious ceremony.

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Primary Research

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View and analyze results from the Generation Y and Zara SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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Facebook, Twitter Rankings

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To paraphrase Mark Twain, "rumors of the death of brick and mortar retail are greatly exaggerated." Although e-commerce shopping continues to grow rapidly, brick-and-mortar stores are still holding up well versus online retail sites, as many people still prefer the in-store shopping experience where they can see and try out products before committing to a purchase.

Brick and Mortar vs Online Sales Statistics

According to U.S. Department of Commerce Statistics:

Total retail sales rose from $1.38 trillion in Q4 2019 to $1.47 trillion in Q4 2020, a 6.9% increase.

E-commerce sales rose from $156.39 billion in Q4 2019 to $206.66 billion in Q4 2020, a 32.1% increase.

As a percentage of total retail sales, e-commerce sales have risen from 11.3% in Q4 2019 to 14% in Q4 2020.

As demonstrated by a 2016 survey from BigCommerce, the preference for shopping online vs in-store tends to decrease with age. Seniors and Baby Boomers are much less likely to turn to online shopping than Millennials and Gen-Xers.

Note that nowadays many purchases involve both digital and physical browsing of goods-often a purchase begins with online research followed by a visit to the store to make a purchase, or conversely a purchase may start with a customer examining the product in-store but making the purchase online. And with the prevalence of smartphones and other mobile devices, shoppers can perform their online research and price comparisons while in the store (known as "showrooming").

Why Customers Purchase Online

Aside from the ability to compare product specifications and browse reviews, online shopping has a number of other advantages:

Being able to shop 24/7

Saving money-online shopping allows the customer to compare pricing and find the best possible deals

Not having to use a personal vehicle and deal with parking and other issues or take transit to shop in-store

Saving time-in-store shopping can be hugely time consuming, particularly if it involves visits to multiple stores in different locations

Convenience-many people dislike crowds, cashier lineups, etc. and prefer to shop from home

Availability-hard to find items are much easier to source online

Free shipping is sometimes available from online vendors. For example, for a small yearly fee the Amazon Prime service includes free shipping on most items ordered through Amazon.

Why Some Customers Prefer Brick-and-Mortar Shopping

Being able to physically interact with an item before buying, particularly with personal items such as clothes, cosmetics, furniture, etc. or with grocery items that need to be checked for quality and freshness

Goods can be obtained immediately rather than waiting for shipping

Customer service-the ability to speak directly to a sales representative and get further information and advice about products or services

Avoiding shipping costs

Avoiding the hassle and complexity of returning unwanted items

Much faster and easier to return a defective or unwanted product in-store rather than shipping back to an online retailer

The experience-many people enjoy a shopping outing in retail stores, often with spouses or friends and conjunction with other activities such as dining, having a specialty coffee, etc.

How Can Small Business Take Advantage of Online and In-store Shopping Trends?

In today's market, virtually all large brick-and-mortar retailers also have a strong online presence. For small brick-and-mortar businesses, deciding whether or not to spend the time and effort to expand into online sales is less clear. According to Insureon, only about 29% of small businesses make their sales through the internet.

Given that most people tend to search for businesses on the internet, your business should always have an online presence, even if it consists of a Facebook page or simple website containing your address and contact information, as well as a brief description of your product or service offerings.

If you do decide you want to sell your products online you don't have to go to the trouble and expense of setting up a complete separate e-commerce website. Setting up a Facebook or eBay storefront, or selling through Amazon as a third party, is all relatively simple and serve as inexpensive ways to get into online sales.

Whether or not you have an online presence, the best way to compete with online stores is to build long-term relationships with your customers by providing excellent customer service. Customers enjoy a sense of familiarity. Being addressed by their first name, enjoying a friendly interaction with sales staff, receiving personalized service and feeling that their needs are being met are sure ways to keep customers coming back.

As an example, a good salesperson in a clothing store can be extremely helpful to a customer by providing advice on appearance, sizing, mixing and matching articles of clothing, assistance with fitting, care, and maintenance, etc. Without any customer assistance or the ability to try on an item in advance, the only recourse for an online clothes shopper is ordering an item and hoping that it fits and is suitable, otherwise sending it back by return shipment.

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How Do Brick and Mortar Stores Compare with Online Retail Sites?

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To paraphrase Mark Twain, "rumors of the death of brick and mortar retail are greatly exaggerated." Although e-commerce shopping continues to grow rapidly, brick-and-mortar stores are still holding up well versus online retail sites, as many people still prefer the in-store shopping experience where they can see and try out products before committing to a purchase.

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'Millennials driving the shift towards mobile payments in the UK’

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50+ Global Mobile Payment Stats, Data & Trends

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Latest data, stats, trends for the adoption of in-store or point of sale payments using mobile devices globally. Updated Jan 2022.

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Zara Story - Profile, History, Founder, Products, Stores, Locations, Founded, CEO | Clothing Companies | SuccessStory

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Few clothing brands keep up with the latest fashion, are of high quality and yet, affordable. It is probably the amalgamation of all these qualities that made Zara, the Spanish clothing brand become the go-to fashion brand for all.

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Written by- Kalyani Kala, Fashion Business Management, ISDI. Faculty- Belinda Bawa

Zarais a Spanish fast fashion clothing and accessories retailer. The company was founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera.

The legend began when Ortega established a dress making factory in 1963 under the name of Inditex. The success of his foundation led him to the path of retail market for which he had a vision unmatched. Ten years after having set up a factory Ortega with Rosalía Mera started a small store called Zorba, which he had to rename as ZARA. Marking the year 1975 for a store setup, the investment was merely nothing and yet another feather was pulled out of Spain's hat which has made a remarkable name all across the globe.

After setting up the forst store in A Coruña, Galicia, in Spain, ZARA slowly expanded its empire in the rest of the country and later in Portugal in 1988 and the year after that- 1989 ZARA made it to the United States of America.

This annual growth has not dropped since day one and every year Zara has been expanding in countries and places across the globe. France in 1990. During the 1990s, Zara expanded to Mexico (1992),Greece, Belgium and Sweden (1993). In the early 2000s, Zara opened its first stores in Japan and Singapore (2002), Russia and Malaysia (2003),China, Morocco, Estonia, Hungary and Romania (2004), the Philippines,Costa Rica and Indonesia (2005), South Korea (2008), India (2010),and South Africa and Australia (2011).

Zara Head Quarters

With about 6,500 stores across 88 countries ZARA has kept pace with the technologically advancing world. They pushed out their stock online in the year 2010 in Spain, the UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany and France. In November that same year, Zara Online extended the service to five more countries: Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Online stores began operating in the United States in 2011, Russia and Canada in 2013,and Mexico, Romania, and South Korea in 2014. India in 4 October 2017.

Founder of Zara- Amancio Ortega

Amancio Ortega

The Spanish retail magnate, labelled the secretive billionaire, is the founder of high street chain Zara. He also owns a massive chunk of the rest of the high street brands. Today Inditex announced record half year sales and profits with a 3% rise in net income to £1.2 billion for the six months to July 1. From a small shop in the city of A Coruna to a global retail empire with over 7,000 stores, the brand's visionary founder Amancio Ortega has made Zara the world's largest fashion retailer.

With his first store, Ortega started keeping the vision of a low priced product from the higher end clothing brands. The idea was intself genious. During the 1980s, Ortega changed the design, manufacturing, and distribution process to reduce lead times and react to new trends in a quicker way, which he called "instant fashions". The improvements included the use of information technologies and using groups of designers instead of individuals.

Setting up a brand in such a competitive world where bigger fish already sweep the ramps, setting up and making Zara successful is one of the most remarkable events in the history of Fashion. This kind of success does not go around name or brands waiting with silver spoons or luck, but is built on strong brand values and the utility that a brand creates for its consumers. Getting this step right, Ortega managed to inculcate values in his clothing items that are not recgonised as the USP of ZARA.

The USP of the brand which is the prime reason for it's massive success today-

Beauty, Clarity, and Functionality

1. Zara has remained faithful to its core values, expressed simply in the same four key words that define all our stores: beauty, clarity, functionality and sustainability.

2. Only a few clothing brands can keep up with the latest fashion while maintaining high quality of products and selling then at an affordable price. It is no surprise that Zara, which started off as a small store in Spain is now the world's largest retailer and its founder, Amancio Ortega, the 4th richest man in the world. Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies.

3. Yet no one seems to know very much about Ortega. But without him we'd never have heard of the term 'fast fashion' and our shopping habits would certainly be very different. To put it into context, in 1998 you had to be invited to a fashion show to see what was happening on the catwalk. And it took six months before the likes of you and me could buy something 'inspired' by a designer on the high street.Since the beginning of its establishment, the main idea of Zara is to make luxury products accessible to everyone. Thus, they managed somehow to democratize luxury manufacturer of products inspired by the evolution of fashion. With this policy, Zara is now an industry capable of offering trendy products at affordable prices. On the other hand, it is a company that wants to be close to young people. Also, this desire is felt in its recruitment policy. Zara young employees with styles very marked fashion. However, Zara understands what exactly the customers need and respond to their needs very quickly. That's the main secret of Zara, which gives them a competitive advantage.

4. Zara's value chain is vertically integrated, which offers many advantages. It can react quickly and it may have high control over the entire process from design to final product. Supply chain is efficient when they have a smooth use of distributions centers and warehouses. Its strategy also allows distributing the products within a wide geographic range within a very short time. The other thing also is that the products are close to market demand. Their products are made only in limited editions; consequently, they must sale their products in short period of time so they can be sold at full price without having them to be returned. This responsive approach involves both lower marketing costs, and higher profit margins for the company. IT integration is also an important aspect of Zara's strategy which is significant as it enables information sharing between different joints within the company.

5. Online shopping became huge and significant market; customers can go online and order what they need. If Zara allows customers to purchase online, that would increase their sales. Pablo Isla is the first Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive says: "we view our entry into the Indian market to be of significant strategic importance."

6. The competitive advantage of the company based on three factors: quality items, reasonable prices and very short response time.

7. Their philosophy is: "No Marketing", "no communication".

8. The customer is at the heart of our unique business model, which includes design, production, distribution and sales through our extensive retail network.

9. Another thing that sets Zara apart from the competition is that, unlike most other retailers, they don't just produce one product range per season. Thanks to a huge design team, Zara has the ability to identify new trends and immediately put into production. This means they can produce four or five updated and relevant collections after the initial seasonal launch. This way they never miss a trend.

10. The key to their success is keeping these new introductory ranges small allowing mistakes to be discarded and the hits followed up quickly. These collections are in effect dictated by customer demand. The clever part being how quickly Zara responds to consumer behaviour.

11. Distribution is the key to the speed in which the company can respond. Every item of clothing produced comes through Spain.

12. At the company's vast 10,000 sq ft base in Arteixo, not far from where it all began in A Coruna, an extensive tunnel network carries a huge carousel that transports clothing from the on-site factories to the distribution centre.

13. It is probably the amalgamation of all these qualities that made Zara, the Spanish clothing brand become the go-to fashion brand for all.

14. Ortega thought that customers would regard clothes as a perishable commodity - no different from yogurt or bread - to be consumed, rather than stored in closets.

Zara as brand offers a wide range of choices: the collections for women, men and children. The brand also launched a line of cosmetics, perfumes and household products.

Zara's products are supplied based on consumer trends. Its highly responsive supply chain ships new products to stores twice a week. After products are designed, they take ten to fifteen days to reach the stores.

The business aspect-

Zara as of 2017 manages up to 20 clothing collections a year.

2. Zara is a part of the € 4 billion Inditex group and 100% owned company, based in Barcelona. Over 80% of the group's sales are contributed by Zara's 600 stores. Women's, men's and children's wear, over 724 stores in 56 countries.

3. Zara as of 2017 manages up to 20 clothing collections a year.

4. Zara currently has 1,751 stores worldwide. They incur an annual revenue of over $9 Billion dollars (2009).

5. Its parent company is owned 60% INDITEX by the Ortega family and Inditex has carried out in 2005 to 6.741 billion turnovers. Zara has about 2000 thousands branches around the world. Zara is a distributor of apparels.

6. On the face of it, none of it really makes sense. For starters the company doesn't advertise and still manufactures most of its products in Europe. But when you look at the heart of Ortega's business you start to see what a true retail visionary he is. Right from the outset Zara's business model has been built with flexibility and speed at its heart. Instrumental to the company's success is the connection between the stores, the in-house designers, and its factories. This has always been a key factor, coupled with the company's deft logistical management.

7 .It's these vital ingredients that enable him to interpret trends and get them from the catwalk to the high street within weeks. Before Zara came along it took five to six months. And once we'd had a taste of what is now commonly referred to as 'fast fashion' we just couldn't get enough of it.

8. All of the clothing is processed through the distribution center in Spain. New items are inspected, sorted, tagged, and loaded into trucks. In most cases, the clothing is delivered within 48 hours. Zara produces over 450 million items per year.

Zara's role in building the much needed passion for fashion has grown since its very introduction of the concept of fast fashion. In simpler terms, Zara has made the top level of fashion something that people from another market would want or aspire to own with designs that reflect the fashion trends that are currently breaking the market at the top level. This makes the buyers from a lesser buying capacity feel the desire to own bigger brands. By pleasing all of its buyers in different departments, Zara not only promotes high fashion but also keeps its customers satisfied and wanting for more at the same place which is clearly seen in the way it caters to the customers with its TRF collection.

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The legend began when Ortega established a dress making factory in 1963 under the name of Inditex. The success of his foundation led him to the path of retail market for which he had a vision...

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The Baby Boomers are being blamed for just about everything. Americans born between 1946-1964, the Boomers, are in the crosshairs of commentators eager to pin them for all sorts of societal ills, including failing to take action and exercise stewardship of the environment.

One zealous writer goes so far as to label the Boomers " a generation of sociopaths " laden with "a ton of maladaptive personality characteristics," not least because of their political unwillingness to address climate change. A harsh diagnosis describing more than 70 million people.

But Boomers may not feel that way about themselves. They are, after all, the generation that came of age in the years that included the publication of Silent Spring and the passage of the Clean Air Act -arguably around the founding of the modern environmental movement itself. As college students, Boomers celebrated the first ever Earth Day in 1970. Retiring Boomers and Gen X'ers may have a new job in retirement - a renewed environmental activism.

To better understand environmental attitudes across generations, the MIT AgeLab conducted a nationwide survey that asked Millennials (born between 1980 - 2000) how they perceived their environmental attitudes and behaviors relative to the older generations. And we asked Boomers and Gen Xers (the later born between 1965-79) to compare their attitudes and behaviors to their younger selves.

A majority of Millennials believed that they were more concerned than the older generations about protecting the environment. At the same time, though, a majority of adults who comprise those older generations (Boomers and Gen X) saw themselves as more environmentally minded than when they were in their twenties. Even if the rap on Boomers and the environment has gone bad, the Boomers don't see themselves that way.

Perspective is one thing, though; behavior is another. Studies show that merely believing in the importance of protecting the environment doesn't actually translate into pro-environmental activity - at any age. Yossi Sheffi, the Director of MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics and author of " Balancing Green: When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business (and When Not To)," points out that in the checkout line, we don't tend to put our money where our environmental mouths are, regardless of age. Sheffi writes, "Although a number of surveys show that most consumers say they want sustainable products, sales data show that only a small percentage are actually willing to pay more to buy sustainable products." The same may well be the case in the voting booth.

But there are other venues where graying adults might be more willing to show their green streak, such as when investing: the AgeLab findings may help explain the fast-growing level of interest in ESG investments, which have grown by more than 97% in the last 20 years. ESG investments are those that take into account the environmental and social impact of companies in the process of investing.

Boomers and Gen Xers entering retirement have another way of making an environmental impact outside of their wallets: volunteering. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, older Gen X and Baby Boomers perform a significant portion of volunteer work, which means at the atomic level of environmental action-cleaning riverbanks, scrubbing bird feathers, rescuing sea turtles-is often in the hands of older adults. With Boomers poised to have a lot more time on their hands in the coming decades, they will have the opportunity to show their commitment and leave a very personal stamp on the environment.

In the minds of today's younger environmental activists, Americans aged 45 and older may be seen as committing unforgivable environmental sins over past decades. But if the data are telling the truth, then the environment may be less a theatre of generational warfare than an opportunity to find common ground. In today's Longevity Economy, the outsized power of older adults as voters, consumers, investors and volunteers might just be the catalyst and be the best hope we have for a more sustainable society in the coming century.

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Greener Than You: Boomers, Gen X & Millennials Score Themselves On The Environment

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As Baby Boomers and Gen X gray, will they become more green? A MIT AgeLab survey reveals that environmental issues may become more of a common ground between Americans as voters, consumers, investors and volunteers than a generational flashpoint.

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Zara seems to be everyone's answer to the perennial what-to-wear question. The Spanish company is a leader in fast fashion. Zara's success and popularity stem majorly from its ability to give customers what they want when they want it. Their flexible supply chain and technology-driven approach have translated into great business results.

In the fast fashion industry, constant change is expected; new products should be available on a regular basis. Fast fashion requires even faster marketing. But, there are no big budget television commercials, internet ads or billboards for Zara. Despite the cut-throat competition, Zara refrains from traditional advertising. So, how does Zara reign in such a scenario?

To find out, we took a look at their social media activity for a period from January 01, 2017 to December 31, 2017.

About this report

This Zara social media report was put together using Unmetric Analyze. It listens to over 100,000 brands to help our clients create more engaging content, get more certainty around their social strategy and automate their reporting.

Overall Social Media Presence

Zara has social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn (as Inditex, the brand's parent company). Because of the importance of pictures and videos in fashion, Instagram and Facebook are their primary social media platforms. Across the different social networks, Zara posts product-focused content which gives the audience a peek into their latest offerings. Their fanbase consists of mostly young females, according to Facebook demographic data.

Facebook

In 2017, Zara added more than one million followers, making it one of the most successful fashion retail brands on Facebook with 26.4 million followers. The brand posted 497 times, with more than 70% of it being photos, and videos accounted for just over 20% of the content.

Zara's Facebook page mostly showcases their latest collections. Their visual content involves lookbook-style photos. Not surprisingly, their clothes do the talking for them and drive the most engagement in terms of likes and shares.

The brand promoted 236 posts, out of which 143 were photos. Interestingly, the organic posts involving photo content managed to achieve a higher overall engagement than the promoted posts. This could be the reason why the brand chose to promote 87 videos from a total of 126 they uploaded. These videos managed to gain high engagement with over 6 million views.

Zara participated in 255 user conversations, mainly receiving a positive (81%) response from their audience. We took a look at the comments on their most engaging post. From the word cloud below, it's clear that customers appreciated the retailer and there's considerable brand excitement.

FIND SOCIAL MEDIA INSIGHTS FOR ANY BRAND

Twitter

Zara has 1.3 million followers on Twitter with 79,026 followers being added last year. The brand page registered a 6.5% increase in fans. Their Twitter strategy centers around conversing with their customers and proactively responding to their queries and concerns. On average, Zara tweets 52 times per day; 98% of their tweets are replies.

Zara responded to 10,937 tweets against a total of 113,889 mentions, keeping their response rate at 9.6%. On average, Zara replies in 14-15 hours, most frequently between 4 am and 1 pm. This is also the time when brand mentions peak. Customer tweets are mainly regarding delayed deliveries, product damages or misplacements and bad in-store customer service. The brand opts to handle queries through requests to direct message, apologies or otherwise directs them to the brand's separate customer service handle @ZARA_Care.

In regards to content, product launches and new arrivals are the top performing.

Black or red? Your choice! https://t.co/mgpV402AiI pic.twitter.com/95fuQH5Gy6

- ZARA (@ZARA) October 27, 2017

COMING SOON | Woman Autumn Winter 2017 campaign #aw17 #zarawoman #comingsoon pic.twitter.com/H2Rpc6R05C

- ZARA (@ZARA) July 20, 2017

Zara also managed to stay relevant by joining the conversation about social causes. These posts drew the highest retweets for the brand.

#loveandpride pic.twitter.com/92cGYUo7hZ

- ZARA (@ZARA) June 30, 2017

In support of #earthHour the lights in our store window will remain off on March 25 from 8.30 to 9.30pm pic.twitter.com/Cre0jlZgU1

- ZARA (@ZARA) March 24, 2017

Being in the forefront of fashion brands, Zara gets regularly featured in fashion magazines, journals and websites. The brand had 241 @-mentions from Elle España, 15 @-mentions from British Vogue and 6 @-mentions from InStyle and WWD.

[LO VES, LO QUIERES] @OliviaPalermo ha dado con los vaqueros de la temporada y por supuesto, están en @ZARA. https://t.co/9wBYzApvYZ pic.twitter.com/VLGkvYXTUj

- Vogue España (@VogueSpain) April 29, 2017

Zara is also @-mentioned by a number of high profile influencers. We find that Zara has appeared in @-mentions from 13 influencers who have more than one million followers. This also includes high-profile celebrities like Danielle Peazer, Davina McCall, Nigella Lawson, Vicky Pattison, Amanda Holden who have a following of more than 2 million. It's interesting to note that Zara gets frequently mentioned not just in influencer endorsements, but also in their Twitter conversations with fans.

- Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) December 11, 2017

Instagram

Instagram reigns supreme for Zara, as it provides the perfect platform for their visual brand image. Zara has 24.3 million followers on Instagram of which 8.5 million followers were added in the last year. With a significant 56% growth in followers, Zara registered the highest growth among its competitors.

They published 469 posts on Instagram, out of which 340 were photos and 149 were videos.

Zara ran a number of integrated campaigns which drew a lot of engagement for the brand. For example, Zara released a sustainable clothing collection under the label #joinlife. They posted 16 times referring to the hashtag and received more than 1 million likes on the posts.

Zara took an interesting approach with their influencer marketing on Instagram. They launched a 'Timeless' campaign featuring models over the age of 40. It featured fashion industry veterans Malgosia Bela, Yasmin Warsame and Kristina de Coninck. The video campaign involved these women discussing the effect of aging on their personal style. This effort also earned social media praise for the retailer.

To know more about what to post on Instagram and win engagement, check out our latest infographic.

YouTube

Zara added more than 10,000 subscribers in the given time period. They uploaded 17 videos, mostly centering around the retail seasons. These short one minute videos are catalogues introducing their new merchandize.

The PR Crisis

From the " Love Your Curves" campaign to Pepe the Frog controversy, the brands has had its fair share of negative publicity. Last year, the brand came under intense public scrutiny when shoppers found notes from unpaid labourers sewn inside the clothes. Interestingly, the brand is unwilling to use their social media platforms to address these issues. Despite the reactions from their disgruntled customers, Zara maintained its silence.

Takeaway from Zara's Social Media Success

Content consistency

Zara's social media strategy is highly dependent on visual elements. They have a photo-oriented synchronized layout across its social platforms. This kind of visual content consistency is vital to brand recall. Maintaining a uniformity helps consumers know what content to expect from you. This organically curates a brand identity that resonates with your audience.

Posting consistency

Similar to content, frequency of posting is vital to building brand consistency. Even though there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the number of posts, regularity is key. Zara manages to remain consistent in its frequency of posting on both Instagram and Facebook by posting at least once every day. To know all about the best time to post and perfect your social strategy, check out our detailed study here.

Customer relationship

Customer research has been the holy grail to Zara's success. They translated the same strategy to their social media as well. Zara consistently uses social media to talk to their customers and this in turn have managed to retain brand loyalty.

Organic Growth

A major aspect of Zara's social media success can be attributed to endorsement from their consumers which include fashion-focused influencers and bloggers. There are countless Instagram accounts solely dedicated to clothes from the retailer. Every season, there's a Zara item trending on social media and their brand-related hashtags account for millions of results.

From Zara's brand story, it's evident that to grow and remain viable in today's business landscape, every brand needs a good social media marketing strategy. If you are looking for insights on how to better your social media performance, have a go at Unmetric Analyze.

Create your own report like this

This report was put together using Unmetric Analyze. It listens to what over 100,000 brands are saying on social media and understands how the audience is reacting to that. Clients use Unmetric to help them create better content, get more certainty around their social media strategy and automate all their reporting. Pricing starts at $1,000 per month.

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Zara's Social Media Strategy - How They Delight Their Customers

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Zara has successfully leveraged social media. We analyzed their social media performance to give you an overview of their social media marketing strategy.

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Latest trends in clothing for women, men & kids at ZARA online. Find new arrivals, fashion catalogs, collections & lookbooks every week.

Version 8.2.1

New functions and improved performance

The best most stylist clothing for everyone

My go-to for office, evening. Lazy days, gifts for family and my husband, all under one roof!! Be a little different, change it up with a funky jacket that makes a great piece from computer work to computing the tip at your favorite after work watering hole!! Delicious fabrics, standout tops and bottoms for all ages and the absolute best accessories at great prices so your outfit is a stand out in any crowd in any City. Be aware, there's gonna be big compliments, envy at your stylish choices and no age agenda!! I've been the recipient for years without fail, even in the courtroom (my professional career lands me there) and I'm always in proper but attractively outfits! It doesn't take a personal shopper, it doesn't take a huge bank account and it almost doesn't take a fashionista eye to make you look fabulous!! It just takes some trying on for a good fit, some professional assistance, if needed, from Zara's well trained and highly competent , not pushy, sales staff and you're out the door with NOT a 'whole NEW you' but a well clothed person who's got great style!!! I am a major clothes horse who's budget is working class caliber but Zara makes you look runway ready for any occasion from the tips of your toes with great shoes to the top of your head with accessories!! Who said designer chic has to break the bank, not with a Zaraein your side!!🥰🥰

Your customers deserve better.

Zara literally has the worst customer service. Since they're a high in demand brand they don't have to rectify this. Don't ever have a problem with an order and think you can call customer service for help, because they will not offer help. They might as well get rid of that department altogether.
Unfortunately for me, there is no physical Zara store located where I live. So I have to use the website/app to get their pieces. Their site platform is not the best. It's often difficult to find certain pieces. Everyone complains about this. Zara has made a few tweaks with allowing you to save items for "buy later" or "wish list". This helps. Zara also needs to either lower prices, or increase the quality for some of their pieces. In all honesty, many of the items aren't really worth the price point, but the fashion sense is so on point. Which is probably why this will not be rectified. My best advice is to wait and get things on sale.

DO NOT ORDER ONLINE!!!

I put in a large order and needed to change the shipping address so I called Zara. The representative told me that my order had been cancelled and that I would need to wait 24 hours and then put everything back in my shopping cart as a new order. What an inconvenience. I asked her if there was any way they could just put the order through again and she said they could not because they wanted to keep my cc info private. In the meantime, she manually changed my shipping address to the correct one. I waited 24 hours and put in a new order. I saw other things I liked, so I modified the order. Upon submitting it, I saw that the shipping info was still incorrect. I called again. I spoke to a different rep who confirmed that the first order had been cancelled and that my shipping info would be updated. That evening I got an email saying the wrong order (first order) was being sent to the wrong address!! How can this be? This time I contacted them via chat. The rep tells me there is nothing they can do and apologized for the misguided info. Now I have to pay for 2 orders. One is being shipped to the wrong address so I will have to find a way to retrieve it and then pay to have it shipped back and hope for a refund. When I asked for contact info of management, we conveniently were disconnected. Such horrible service!! Buyer beware! I will never order online from Zara again and have to pay for there mistakes in time and money.

Information

Seller

Industria de Diseno Textil, S.A.

Compatibility

Requires iOS 12.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Languages

English, Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Family Sharing

With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

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Latest trends in clothing for women, men & kids at ZARA online. Find new arrivals, fashion catalogs, collections & lookbooks every week. Version 8.2.1 New functions and improved performance My go-to for office, evening. Lazy days, gifts for family and my husband, all under one roof!!

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How easy is there website to use and make purchases ? 

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How easy is there website to use and make purchases ? 

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Primary Research

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View and analyze results from the Generation Y and Zara SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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Primary Research

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View and analyze results from the Generation Y and Zara SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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But there was something different about these voiceless (joy), touch-screen Zara wonder machines. The experience was seamless. The interface is clean and bright - like their app for anyone who has used it - the touch-screen is ridiculously responsive, you even get to remove the security tags yourself (dreamy). But the piéce de la résistance was that there was no individual scanning required. You simply stand by the till and it wirelessly picks up what you're holding and adds it all into your virtual basket on the screen in front of you. What if someone is standing next to you with items that also get picked up on your tab? No problem. You can delete them from your screen in seconds.
Read more: Lucinda Chambers's High Street Accessories Hits
From start to finish it took me seven minutes (it probably could have been quicker, but I really relished the process of de-tagging the security tags). With Zara being the leader in the pack of high-street fast fashion, it seems only right that transactions should be swift, speedy and efficient to mirror their production line. As it stands, the machines are only for checkout. If you want to return something you will invariably still have to wait in what always seems to be a ridiculously long queue in the least air-conditioned part of the store, but this is most definitely a step in the right direction and the future of offline retail experiences. Oh, and in case you're interested in what I actually purchased, I got a skirt, a jumper and a dress. But that's completely besides the point; the process far surpassed the actual purchase.

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Help Yourself: How Zara Is Elevating The Self-Service Experience

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This week, Zara launched their self-service checkouts at key locations across the UK. But do they really result in faster fashion? [i]Vogue[/i]'s Jessica Diner finds out...

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'Evolved to the new 4Es of marketing strategy'

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Spain-based Zara, the world's largest clothing retailer and owned by Inditex, is introducing an augmented reality experience in its stores. Shoppers can engage their mobile phones to see models wearing selected fashions when they click on sensors in the store or displayed on AR-enabled shop windows. Initially launched in 120 stores worldwide, such technology is irresistible digital-honey to draw millennials into the store and shop.

Creating customer curiosity is a most powerful pull marketing strategy. Every human being is innately programmed to satisfy it. With this new AR application and in so many other ways, Zara excels by pulling customers into the brand, unlike its closest competitor H&M, which remains fixed on pushing its brand and product out to the customer.

In studying these two oft-compared brands, the essential differences revolve around their overall approach to marketing. H&M still is fixed on the old 4Ps of marketing model-Product, Price, Promotion and Place-where the company and the brand is the focus.

By contrast Zara has evolved to the new 4Es of marketing strategy-Experience replaces Product; Exchange is new Price; Evangelism is now Promotion; and Every Place is new Place-that puts the customer at the center around which the company and brand revolve.

For Zara, it is all about the customer-experiences for the customer, exchange with the customer, Evangelism through the customer, and being every place for the customer. Shelley E. Kohan, assistant professor Fashion Institute of Technology, recently shared an analysis of the Zara difference based upon the 4Es marketing concept.
Zara makes customer experience king
Product used to be king, but not anymore. In the new retail economy, experience matters more than product in the mind of the shopper. Zara understands this.

"While Zara is an excellent purveyor of product, it also capitalizes on the store experience by continuously offering reasons for customers to visit the stores and catch the hottest trends at affordable prices," Kohan explains, noting that Zara has cultivated a loyal customer who visits about six times per year, as compared to other retailers in the contemporary market where two to three visits per year are the norm.

The fast-fashion experience formula for success combines frictionless shopping in a highly curated product environment offering scarce supply and new styles that rotate rapidly. "The more quickly and efficiently a customer can navigate through the store to explore and find hidden gems, the better the experience," she says. "Zara nails that."
Zara exchanges with customers for value
The old pricing formula-Pile it high, sell it cheap-worked well through the 20th century, but in the new experience economy, it has been replaced by the concept of exchange.

"Exchanging dollars for product is no longer meeting the needs of today's shopper as they strive for deeper connections with the brand," Kohan states. "Retailers must adapt to the changing consumer where the top characteristic is value. Today, value is measured beyond price, but also in time and convenience."

Zara has a deep understanding of the entire value proposition it exchanges with the customers. Its fast-fashion deliverable is available in the quantity, format and time in which the customer needs the product. That translates into great value.

"Branded value aligns customer's needs with a brand deliverable," Kohan stresses. For example, the most loyal customers for retailers typically account for 80% of the sales. These brand loyalists are also less price sensitive. "Appealing to the loyal segment of the target market, like Zara does, allows for higher profit margins and caters to customers who seek out branded value," she emphasizes.

Zara masters the concept of exchange as it is not the cheapest in the fast-fashion arena, but it consistently delivers branded value of trend-right product at appealing prices.
Zara creates brand evangelists
By making the brand experience meaningful and the exchange valuable, Zara taps the potential of its customers to evangelize the brand. Rather than push marketing out, Zara pulls customers in, cultivates them as brand influencers to improve operations, services and products and stimulates them to spread the word.

"Shopper frequency at Zara is 2x to 3x higher than traditional women's apparel, which indicates super loyalty to the brand," Kohan says. These loyalitsts become brand evangelists who share excitement about the brand with their networks. Zara, for example, has over 25 million Facebook followers, 16 million on Instagram and over one million in Twitter.

Zara has a highly evolved data infrastructure, Kohan also notes, that allows for super-efficient analysis of what's selling and being said on social media platforms. This data is used to improve various aspects of the business from product offerings to service enhancements. "The two-way communication between the customer and Zara allows for continual improvement of product and services," she says.
Zara is every place the customer needs it to be
Personal commerce is the every place where the customers are, rather than only in the physical place the brand is present. This is the new distribution model for retailers today: Delivering the brand experience and products when and where the customer demands it. Zara does that for them.

"Zara has devoted significant time, money and resources to develop a synchronized strategy between online and offline commerce," Kohan explains. Through this technology and mobile connectivity, it links a customer's shopping visit and provides access to inventory not present in the specific location. "It is a big win for both the customer and the company," she says.

And the company's store location strategy is another aspect of its every place factor. It currently operates in 2,213 stores across 93 markets and 39 online markets. The flagship locations are located in the most critical markets that appeal to their most loyal shopper. "Zara has the courage to continually strengthen their portfolio of stores by closing unprofitable ones, opening new markets, and expanding sister brands in existing markets (Zara Home, Massimo Dutti)," Kohan says.
Zara is all about the customer
Zara has cultivated unique advantages with its 4Es approach to marketing by focusing on experience, exchange, evangelism and every place strategies for the customer, rather than the old product, price, promotion and place concept focused on the brand. "As the brand ethos is so embedded in the customers' mind, the customer becomes the brand manager," Kohan explains.

In 2016, the service agents responded to more than 17 million customer inquiries, Kohan found. "Zara actually listens and reacts to customer feedback as its most valuable brand asset to improve its products and services, " she says.

Further, Zara focuses on its own people with corporate initiatives on diversity, respect, equal opportunity, work-life balance and professional development. Zara fosters a highly-engaged workforce that translates into highly-engaged interactions with customers. Additionally, over 60% of the Inditex workforce is 30 or younger thus aligning with the target market of the brand.

"The result is the customer and the company work cooperatively together so that the Zara customer becomes the Chief Customer Officer providing feedback on all aspects of the business," Kohan concludes. This is a fundamentally different alignment than brands using the 4Ps approach to marketing operate. Today the customer, not the company, calls the shots. Zara involves the customer interactively in the decision-making process. That is the Zara difference.

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Why Zara Succeeds: It Focuses On Pulling People In, Not Pushing Product Out

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Analysis of Zara's fast-fashion retailing strategy with FIT Shelley E. Kohan, based on the 4Es model of marketing, where Experience replaces Product, Exchange in new Price, Evangelism is now Promotion and Every Place is the new Place. Zara recognizes the customer as its most valuable brand asset.

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What retailers do you shop at other than Zara?

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What retailers do you shop at other than Zara?

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Primary Research

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View and analyze results from the Generation Y and Zara SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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Even though Millennials appreciate good advertising, and are more willing to actively seek it out before making purchase decisions as opposed to generation X, who perceive advertising as disruptive and actively tune it out either with the help of ad-blockers, skipping the pre-rolls online or changing channels while watching TV.

Moreover, Millennials are trusting big brands more than other generations, as long as these companies are displaying honesty and integrity. Additionally, they show a great interest in the climate change and they are more likely to buy from companies who engage in fair-trade sourcing, organic growing and other measures that help combat the threat of global warming.

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Even though Millennials appreciate good advertising, and are more willing to actively seek it out before making purchase decisions as opposed to generation X, who perceive advertising as disruptive and actively tune it out either with the help of ad-blockers, skipping the pre-rolls online or changing channels while watching TV.

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How Millennials Are Changing The Face Of Retail Shopping

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are not your parents' generation; they do things differently and in a big way. Millennials also happen to be the largest generation; some 80 million individuals born after 1980 and before the early 2000s make up this young but influential demographic. Nowhere is this influence being felt more than in the retail industry: recent research reveals that Millennials are changing the rules of brand marketing, redefining purchase habits, and revolutionizing the shopping experience as we know it. Along with changing ideologies in technology, privacy, and social interaction, Milliennials are forcing retailers to reevaluate how they attract and communicate with consumers.

Brand Marketing: Not Your Traditional Approach

Millennials are anything but traditional when it comes to retail shopping. It should come as no surprise that Millennials prefer being able to interact with brands through digital channels versus historical marketing tactics such as circulars or in-store advertisements. Retailers also cannot rely on the traditional "quality products at a good deal" approach, an effective marketing component of baby boomers. Instead, Millennials are forcing brand marketing strategies to become much more participative in ways such as casually engaging them on Facebook or Twitter. In fact, the entire marketing equation for Millennials has evolved to include this participative aspect:

One way for brands to become more participative is to offer loyalty and reward programs; 77 percent of Millennials reported participating in such programs and 78 percent reported being more likely to purchase from a brand with a loyalty/rewards program than a brand without one. Brands that succeed in attracting Millennials are often then rewarded for their efforts: Millennials are leaders in "word-of-mouth" recommendations. In this age of social media, "valuable brand advocates" who share opinions on- and off-line with peers are arguably the most effective marketing tool.

The Shopping Experience: A Two-Way Street

The participative and engaging approach goes beyond just selling; the entire retail shopping experience needs to be more engaging. Retailers need to make Millennials feel as if they are a part of something fashionable and trendy; something that their friends belong to - Millennials associated themselves with the statement "It's ok if others know I am associated with it" twice as often as Baby Boomers.

Millennials Infographic (Final)

The all-in-one shopping experience of major in-store retailers is becoming a thing of the past, as the ease and convenience of online shopping is putting more pressure on in-store retailers than ever. It can be far less preferable to go to a brick-and-mortar store when online purchases arrive within a few days and shipping is (often) free. Additionally, the sheer quantity of online vendors has afforded Millennials (and consumers in general) more retail options than ever before, thereby allowing Millennials to be more selective with their purchases. Millennials actually prefer to browse for products over purchasing them, and only pull the trigger after a smile of satisfaction - a retailer's ability to "make me smile" is 33 percent more important to Millennials than Baby Boomers.

Online retailers interested in appealing to Millennial consumers need to provide them with a more shareable and social shopping experience. As the pioneers of social media, it is especially important for online retailers to offer products and advice to Millennials on social networks. Millennials want to share these things with 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 friends and followers (i.e. your potential customers). This dialog can be enhanced by a well-developed mobile strategy that engages the 50 percent of Millennials that are browsing and reviewing products via their mobile devices.

Purchasing Habits: Here and Now

Millennials live and shop in the moment, often making purchases and dealing with the repercussions later. In one survey, 52 percent of Millennials were more likely to make impulse purchases than any other generation. This is an alarming difference from the nearly 8 out of 10 baby Boomers whose purchases are driven by practical decisions. Millennials don't stop spending in a recession either; only 20 percent of Millennials reported spending less on apparel during the most recent economic downturn.

Despite the rapid spending habits of Millennials, they put a lot of thought into the products and services they adopt. Millennials are more cosmopolitan in nature, and view their purchases through a global lens, which for example, leads to a higher preference for "green" products. These reasons are why Millennials are more likely to shop at smaller retailers with authentic cultural items than large chain operations.

Millennials do more than just purchase environmentally or socially responsible products; they donate their time and money to charitable causes. In 2011, 75 percent of Millennials donated to charity and 60 percent volunteered for a good cause. In the near future, the brands that Millennials support the most are likely to have a positive impact on the world.

The New Dialogue

Millennials are using the advancements in technology and mobile communication to change how they interact with brands. The brands that nurture these interactions and turn them into strong relationships will be rewarded in new ways. For instance, Millennials are willing to share private information in exchange for benefits - 56 percent would share their location for a discount. Ultimately, Millennials are now calling the shots, and retailers will just have to listen.

To learn more about Millennials and their shopping habits, click here.
More Business articles from Business 2 Community:

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How Millennials Are Changing The Face Of Retail Shopping

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How Millennials Are Changing The Face Of Retail Shopping Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are not your parents' generation; they do things differently and in a big way. Millennials also happen to be the largest generation; some 80 million individuals born after 1980 and before the early 2000s make up this young but influential demographic.

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'playing it safe, being risk averse and self-reliant'

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When the financial crisis hit ten years ago, Millennials weren't affected as much as Baby Boomers or Gen Xers were.

They didn't lose the bulk of their real estate or stock market value. Most were only teenagers at the time, some as young as eight.

Now young adults, many are earning a good living, and some even have a good chunk of money set aside and are moving up.

But just because they are paid well and have money doesn't mean prospering Millennials emerged from the financial crisis unscathed. The impact of the crisis, which began 10 years ago this month, is evident in how they spend, save and manage their money, according to a new study from Merrill Edge.

This cohort of affluent Millennials -- people ages 18 to 34 who earn more than $50,000 and have $20,000 to $50,000 in investable assets -- is taking a more deliberate path. Overwhelmingly they're delaying major milestone purchases like real estate, cutting back on discretionary spending and taking a fiercely self-sufficient approach to their money. And there's evidence, according to the study, these decisions are in direct response to the financial crisis.

"Millennials playing it safe, being risk averse and self reliant is very much a reaction to what they saw in the financial crisis," says Aron Levine, head of Merrill Edge. "They saw that their parents and grandparents lost a great deal of money during that time and they want to be more cautious."

An overwhelming majority, 85%, say they are likely to "play it safe" with their day-to-day finances.

According to the study, the recession gave Millennials pause when it comes to big life investments. For 78%, the recession was a factor in their decision to buy real estate. For 58% it affected their higher education plans. And for 53%, the financial crisis led them to put off having children.

And they're well aware these rosy days could end at any time: 80% of affluent Millennials say they'll see another recession in their lifetime. Three in 10 think it will happen in the next ten years.

Although they are delaying having kids, the top definition of success among these young people is to provide for a family (73%), followed by having a family (52%) and making a difference (41%).

"They want to have kids and a family," says Levine, "but they want to know they can provide for them first."

Baby Boomer values like having an impressive résumé and having a million dollars were non-starters for these above-average earning Millennials: only 11% and 9%, respectively, said that was their idea of success.

When asked what they are likely to rely on most in 20 years, Millennial's top response was their own savings account. While Gen Xers were more likely to say they'd rely on their 401(k) and Baby Boomers on their pension and Social Security, young people were confident they would not be depending on their family, their company, or their government.

While most Americans have a paltry savings rate, 38% of these young people are socking away half of their paycheck. They're also curbing spending in other ways, including the 54% who say they are cutting back on going out and the 42% who are skipping vacations so they can save more.

Though they are saving, they are retiring the idea of a quaint retirement.

"This idea that I'm going to work for a certain amount of time until I have a certain amount of money and then I can retire, that is no longer the premise," says Levine. "Retirement as a concept has changed to, 'I want financial freedom,' that could be in your 40's or 60's or later."

CNNMoney (New York) First published December 4, 2017: 10:08 AM ET

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How the financial crisis affected Millennials, 10 years later

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They didn't lose the bulk of their real estate or stock market value. Most were only teenagers at the time, some as young as eight. Now young adults, many are earning a good living, and some even have a good chunk of money set aside and are moving up.

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ZARA: Technology and Customer Experience as Drivers of Business

Zara is one of the world's most successful fashion retail brands - if not the most successful. Not only is Zara a clear leader in the fashion industry, but is also a large tech firm. The key of Zara's success is that its business model leans heavily on technological innovation and customer experience.

In essence, thanks to a pioneering technological strategy, Zara holds the title for market leader. By adopting new tools including big data, augmented reality and artificial intelligence, the Spanish clothing retailer has managed to outpace its direct competitors. While it took Zara longer than most other fashion retailers to enter the online channel, once it overcame this barrier, it designed a unique high quality online customer experience.

Zara's parent company, Inditex, is known for bringing the latest fashion trends to retail stores in a matter of days, compared to many other companies which take months to do it.

It seems that Zara has focused on technology to improve customer experience - or at least this is what the latest ecommerce and app updates show. Zara is obsessed with its customers and it aims at offering them a smooth, seamless, and ultimately enjoyable shopping experience.

So, here's a run-down of how Zara is using technology, as well as what value it provides to consumers:

Augmented Reality (AR) brings clothing to life in-store

Zara has recently been one of the first mainstream retailers to launch an AR app, which is designed to bring clothes to life in-stores. By pointing cameras at sensors installed in windows, users of the app can see virtual fashion models strutting their stuff. Other AR imagery includes mannequins moving around and showcasing the brand's new Studio Collection.

Once users have lived the experience, there is also the option to buy the featured clothes directly through the app by simply clicking on "shop the look" button or in the store itself. This is a great solution to attract millennial shoppers to its brick and mortar store locations.

Fast-Fashion Shopping Experience with AI:

The more quickly and efficiently a customer can navigate through the store to explore and find hidden gems, the better the experience. In this field, Zara is the king. The in Zara's eCommerce allows SIMILAR button a new way to discover fashion. When you click on it, a pop up opens that shows available options of products visually similar in color, pattern, shape, etc. to the original image. This AI visual solution helps customers to navigate the product catalog in a more visual, intuitive and attractive way, and also automatically access a greater number of products in one click.

Sizing Tool for Online Shopping based on big data analytics:

Zara's parent company, Inditex, is always ready to assist the customers. Helping its e-customers pick the right clothing size is one of the challenges that Zara wants to resolve immediately. The feature "What's My Size?" asks shoppers to enter their height, weight, and fit preferences (tight, loose, or perfect). Then it informs you what customers who fall into similar size categories have previously purchased, and organizes the results by percentage (big data analytics). The feature seems to appear on every item's page, and after entering your information once, the website saves it and automatically applies it to other items' pages.

Live chat-based customer service:

With the new "chat" feature, Zara puts the customer at the center one more time. On the app, customers can chat with Zara in real-time to directly resolve issues as they appear. Live chat is a brilliant technology, however, it does not always have answers to all questions and does not allow image sharing on the chat. This live chat is simply a customer care tool, and not a personal shopper or style advisor service. Maybe Zara's live chat feature can eventually evolve into a chatbot. With the help of AI-powered chatbots, businesses are better equipped to handle personalised customer service functions.
In conclusion...
Thanks to its increased focus on technology, Zara has certainly made steps to improve and enhance the customer experience journey with initiatives helping to counteract some of its problems.

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ZARA: Technology and Customer Experience as Drivers of Business

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The key of Zara's success is that its business model leans heavily on technological innovation and customer experience. So, here's a run-down of how Zara is using technology (Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Big Data) to improve customer experience journey.

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'73% of Millennial respondents were willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable or socially aware brand'

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The luxury industry is often tied in with terms like excessive consumerism, disposable income, and guilty pleasures. Yet, as Millennials and Generation Z consumers are driving 85 percent of global luxury sales growth, their expectation for luxury brands to be aligned with their values becomes increasingly important. The younger affluent generations are indeed more conscious of the environmental and social impact of their purchase decisions and are more likely to buy from a brand that resonates with their own personal values. High-end brands that want to retain their status in the luxury market need to evolve to keep up with this growing trend towards ethical and sustainable luxury.

A study from Nielsen showed that 73 percent of Millennial respondents were willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable or socially conscious brand. That's more than what older generations indicated. Furthermore, 81 percent of Millennials expect the brands that they buy into to be transparent in their marketing and actively talk about their sustainability impact.

This is the age of philanthropic luxury retail with an increasingly strong consumer demand for upscale brands to provide a positive contribution to their ecosystem.

Luxury brands pivot towards sustainability and conscious models

How can luxury brands reposition themselves to embrace this change and build sustainable luxury into their narrative? The key is to be authentic. Brands need to genuinely implement sustainability and environmentally-friendly models into their practice from the ground up before they start to create a hype around it.

Famous diamonds luxury brand Tiffany, for example, operates in an industry that has come under fire for bringing conflicts to communities in Africa. In order to positively change this perception, the high-end brand was one of the first big jewellery names to source metals and diamonds from responsible mining companies. Tiffany now has a zero-tolerance policy for purchasing diamonds from countries with human rights infringements. They also have a philanthropic foundation working on reef conservation and awareness for responsible mining. Andy Hart, Head of diamond supply for Tiffany, explains his motivation for building a responsible brand: " I just ask myself, if I had to pull back the curtain on our factories, would I want our customers to see what's there? "

Luxury marketing build awareness on sustainable and conscious impact

With sustainable and eco-friendly luxury practices in play, luxury brands also need to communicate that message to their audience. This should be done with a subtle tone to keep an authentic narrative. A good way of building this into your editorial and communication is through transparency, such as behind the scenes features, along with microsites and projects.

High-end mechanical watch brand Rolex has been a precursor in the field with their ongoing awards program. With the Rolex Award for Enterprise, the luxury watch brand gives a large cash prize to entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 30 for projects that are bringing about a positive environmental or cultural change. This approach towards sustainable luxury and socially conscious innovation is bright, refreshing, and taking real steps to improve, not only the lives of individuals but the planet as a whole.

Balancing transparency with exclusivity to inspire Millennials and Generation Z affluent consumers

Luxury brands have always embraced an element of mystique, but times are changing, in the digital age - consumers are hungry for more information. They want to make sure that their purchase decisions reflect their ethics.

Fashion brands like The People Tree and Everlane are embracing this by offering consumers the opportunity to meet the makers of their clothes or take digital tours of their factories. Not only does this method offer transparency to its consumers to showcase fair and ethical practices, but it also underlines the fact that these garments are created by local artisans, making them authentic and unique - the true ethos of social luxury.

High-end brands that want to continually position themselves as ethical and sustainable luxury companies can actively campaign for change. Once they have showcased what they are doing to change the world, they have a platform to invite their consumers to do the same.

Patagonia's Don't Buy This Jacket campaign was a bold move. It marked the company out as being true pioneers for proposing change above profit. Embracing a cause that ties into your brand values and doing so in a sincere way can reinforce your place as a leader in this modern trend.

Social responsibility and positive environmental impact: the rise of sustainable luxury

Large luxury brands are already catering to their affluent Millennials' expectations for social responsibility and positive environmental impact. The Kering group, for example, which owns Gucci, Stella McCartney, and Saint Laurent, among other high-end labels, is increasing the share of its raw materials that are renewable to improve its sustainability. " Our ambition is to redefine luxury to help influence and drive these positive changes, " says Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering's chief sustainability officer.

With Millennials and Generation Z consumers making up 30 percent of all luxury shoppers and on track to represent 45 percent by 2025, luxury brands need to accelerate their work towards sustainability and conscious living if they want to stay relevant.

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Sustainable Luxury: Millennials Buy Into Socially Conscious Brands

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85% of luxury growth is driven by Millennials who care about the environmental and social impact of their purchases. As a result, luxury brands are embracing sustainability and social responsibility. Encouraged by Millennial consumers, high-end brands strive to be transparent and authentic in their marketing.

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‘where technology is the forefront of the company’s ethos’

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The world and the people in it have been evolving for millions of years.

We were hunters and gatherers. Then, the agricultural revolution made us farmers. When the industrial revolution unfolded, we became factory workers. In the age of information, we've become employees at offices.

A lot has changed.
Although technology has always elusively promised it would provide us with more free time and less work, we are actually working more than before the agricultural revolution.

Believe it or not, there was far more leisure time when you had to hunt for your own food than today when you can go to a grocery store and choose virtually anything you want.

Science, Experiences, & Happiness

Millennials are being raised in a world where they're exposed to more information than ever before.

With the ability to look up anything with a cell phone, Millennials don't have to take anything at face value.

For example, the media may influence us that buying things will make us happier but a simple look at the facts shows us that isn't the case.

And Millennials have figured that out.

Here are 5 reasons Millennials are choosing to have enriching experiences instead of purchasing things.

1. Buying things is thing of the past

Millennials are growing up in a society where the largest retail store doesn't own any items (Amazon), the biggest transportation service doesn't own any vehicles (Uber), and the most popular hotel chain doesn't own any hotels (AirBnB).

It's no surprise Millennials have figured out owning things is a thing of the past.

Why own a car when you can hire a driver on demand for essentially the same cost as buying your own vehicle but none of the stresses associated with owning it?

In our changing and mobile culture where traveling to any corner of the planet is affordable, and jobs are allowing more and more to work from anywhere, why buy a home when you don't know how long you'll stay there?

In addition, Millennials are changing jobs on average every three years. Why imprison yourself to a mortgage and staying in one place when you don't know how long you will even be staying there?

And then there is this. James Hamblin, the Atlantic's columnist, explains the phenomenon of ownership no longer being relevant as follows:

Over the past decade, psychologists carried out a great amount of research proving that, in terms of happiness and a sense of well-being, spending money on new experiences is much more profitable than buying new things. It brings more joy.

2. Experiences make us happier

We live in the age of information and the data is in: the science of happiness has shown us experiences elicit more happiness than buying material things.

Dr. Gilovich explains,

"Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods. You can really like your material stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things, but nonetheless, they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences."

It makes sense, of course, but much of the American Dream is built upon principles of buying material goods. Well, it didn't take Millennials long to realize the American Dream isn't all it's cracked up to be.

After all, would people rather hear about your watch or the time you took a trip to Costa Rica and smothered yourself in blue clay from the jungle?

3. Millennials have different values

Art by Banksy

"Millennials don't want to just read the news anymore. They want to know what they can do about it." -Ian Somerhalder

According to more the Deloitte Survey researching more than 7,700 Millennials spanning 29 countries, 84% of Millennials believe it is their duty to change the world.

What's more: Millennials aren't chasing jobs for a higher salary, they are looking for companies that share their same personal values. According to the same survey, 7 out of 10 believe the company they work for shares the same personal values as them.

Unlike the previous generation, millennials have no problem changing their majors or their jobs in search of something more meaningful or better aligned with their values.

In fact, they are leaving their jobs at triple the rate of non-millennials.

4. 'Successful' has been redefined

Before this generation, much of what was considered 'successful' revolved around prosperity and stability.

Given that 50% of millennials would take a pay cut to work for a company that matches their values, this is no longer the case.

Being successful to a Millennial isn't about how much money you make but how much freedom you have. Flexible schedules with the freedom to work from anywhere is much more appealing to most millennials than a high paying job that has strict hours and requires 8 hours in an office every day.

Our parents didn't have the ability to travel as much as we do, or the freedom to easily start a business like you can in today's world. Therefore, they invested in houses, things, cars--they were a reflection of the society where it was encouraged to buy a house and work with the same company for 20 years. That was what 'success' 20 years ago.

Oh how times have changed.

5. Purchasing things makes us worry

Tell me if this doesn't sound familiar: you work really hard at your job for a long time to save up money, buy a car, and then spend a lot of time caring for the car, anxious about it getting damaged, and even arm the vehicle with an alarm so it's not taken from you.

This process, a process we've all likely gone through, takes up so much time and energy--and at the end of it--we just worry about it breaking or being taken away. It begs the question: is it worth it?

Millennials don't think so and with all of the alternative options such as Uber & Zipcars, many are figuring out it's not worth the worry.

And this goes for much smaller purchases as well. Why spend hard earned money to buy a watch if you're just going to worry about messing it up all the time?

Instead of spending time to make money to buy material things which can make you feel anxious or can be taken away from you, Millennials are investing in experiences that improve life and can never be taken away.

Final Thoughts

The world is changing and so are the people being raised in it.

With access to unfathomable amounts of information right in one's pocket, Millennials are asking a lot of questions. And the results are in:

Millennials are clearly choosing experiences over things.

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Why Millennials are Choosing Experiences Over Things

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The world and the people in it have been evolving for millions of years. We were hunters and gatherers. Then, the agricultural revolution made us farmers. When the industrial revolution unfolded, we became factory workers. In the age of information, we've become employees at offices. A lot has changed.

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‘65% of millennials are driving the “Experience Economy” through buying real life experiences versus possessions’

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Millenials. Gen Y. Those in their 20s and 30s...

According to The Drum, they will account for 75% of the UK workforce in a decade. And with it a huge amount of the consumer spending in the UK.

So what do millennials want? For many companies in the UK, it's quite literally the billion-pound question.

To find the answer, we recently ran a study asking just that.

The results are pretty surprising, too!
What millenials want
Our study showed just how much millenials are turning away from materialism and traditional measures of success, and instead focusing their (considerable) disposable income on experiences.

In fact 65% of the 18-34 year olds surveyed were driving the "Experience Economy" through buying real life experiences versus possessions. How much does that equate to? Well, we found that millenials spend over £419,556,233 each month on attending live events!

And there's more to come for the burgeoning Experience Economy. Two thirds (66%) of the study's respondents said they felt more fulfilled by live experiences than purchasing an item of the same value - and 62% of them plan to increase the amount of money they spend on experiences, instead of possessions, over the next 12 months.
How can you tap into this growing trend?
The answer to this one is simple: FOMO is REAL

Nearly three in four (73%) of respondents agreed that a fear of missing out (FOMO) often drives the need to seek out new activities and experiences: as events and experiences are now being shared on social media immediately and worldwide, FOMO is meaning more millennials are spending on experiences over possessions to be part of that shared conversation.

Therefore to build your company in the new Experience Economy, you need to learn to leverage FOMO.
Property dreams on the backburner?
The desire to experience life to the fullest has even seeped into what has traditionally been a British institution like fish and chips on a Friday - home ownership.

Although 71% of the respondents said they would like to own a home before 35, the same number said the prospect of paying for a mortgage was menacing, with a full 40% of Londoners admitting that they would defer buying a property in order to continue a lifestyle that offered experiences. 59% of the men questioned even said that enjoying experiences was more important to them than ever buying a home.
The experts opinion
Marino Fresch, Head of Marketing for UK & Ireland at Eventbrite said: "Psychological studies have shown that experiences make us happier than possessions. As Eventbrite is the international marketplace for live experiences, we recognise the importance of 'life moments' over consumer belongings that can often feel fleeting.

"Our study demonstrates a shift in consumer sentiment - as we enter the busiest time in the retail calendar, the most powerful consumer group in the UK is seeking to spend its hard earned cash on something that cannot be bought in a store."

Meryl Ferrer, London, 22, agrees: "I work hard all year and prefer to save my money for things that take me away from the norm. Live experiences such as travel, festivals, concerts and sporting events are the things that I really look forward to, and that I'll always remember. They last much longer than a new dress."

Cornell psychology professor Thomas Gilovich has carried out several studies into the impact of experiences, and says the happiness gained from live experiences is thanks to the anticipation of the event and the fact that it is most likely to be experienced with other people.

"Live experiences are moments in time that are shared with others, so stay with you forever," concludes Fresch. "Many millennials have less disposable income than previous generations at the moment and this is making them all the more precious about how they spend their money. Satisfaction comes from spending it on experiences with other people and this economy is booming."
Do you agree? Share your thoughts and experiences over on event industry forum EventTribe.
See our Press Release here.
Further information:
Survey conducted by Ipsos MRBI between 23 October and 3 November 2014.

IPSOS invited 18-34 year olds to take part in the Market Research Survey, recruited via an online panel. Broad quota controls, using the latest census results, were applied to ensure the data is representative of the population in terms of Age, Gender & Region.

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Study: Millennials Want Experiences More Than Anything - Eventbrite

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Millenials. Gen Y. Those in their 20s and 30s... According to The Drum, they will account for 75% of the UK workforce in a decade. And with it a huge amount of the consumer spending in the UK. So what do millennials want? For many companies in the UK, it's quite literally the billion-pound question.

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The nature of media and advertisement is constantly changing. With every new generation, old rules have to be reconsidered or thrown out when ineffective. The same old advertising techniques will not always work on the new generation.

In particular, the millennials are proving to be a challenging market. They are, as we call them "digital natives", the first generation to grow up literally attached to smart phones, tablets and laptops, with access to social media and the Internet, and the way they find, consume and act on all information - especially targeted advertising - is completely different from past generations. It is important to figure out just how millennials get information.

We will review advertisement techniques that brands can utilize to better target the consumers of tomorrow and look at the latest e-marketing research.
The Millennial Generation
Ranging from the early '80s to the first few years of the 21 st century, millennials will come to occupy a primary role in the United States over the next two decades. With incredible purchasing power and specific interests, this generation is much more likely to communicate their ideas and feelings over social media platforms. Brands are often behind the times in capitalizing on this age group. So why is advertising to the millennial generation such a challenge? Millennials have turned the traditional marketing strategy on its head, requiring an entirely new approach.
What the Research Is Showing
Traditional advertising doesn't work anymore. People haven't stopped buying things, but how and why they buy those things have changed.

Millennials communicate with each other far more than any advertising campaign can. When trying to figure out whether something is worth buying, millennials will go to their friends and social networks to see what people think. They use this collective filter to sort out research and other word-of-mouth style information when making decisions. So in what way can we use these habits to create more successful ads?

The research also found that, as tech advanced as millennials are, there are some things that just don't change - gender differences. "Fewer inputs were necessary for male decision buying than for female decision buying. There's also a difference in terms of categories, so that the female millennials are more likely to focus on health and beauty aids, and the male millennials are far more likely to focus on electronics and technology."

Changing your marketing strategy may not be easy, but it is necessary in order to better target millennials. It is crucial to build a community around your brand. To explain how businesses have done this, we can look to Facebook as an example. Touted as the best media platform for business and brand promotion, Facebook is designed to promote user participation and can be easily used to support and grow your brand.

But millennials don't want to be talked at. They are used to having control over the information at their fingertips in their day to day lives, and their interactions with brands online is no different. They want to control their messaging. They also are easily incentivized. They expect to be rewarded for their loyalty, for their follows or likes. They want coupons. They want to be among the first to receive updates. They want to be included in a brand's communications efforts.

Millennials are also extremely savvy. They know what's good and they know what's bad, and they want the good. If you give them the good? They will share the life out of it. And their community members will follow suit. Content really is king to the younger generation, and the more creative the better. They are app'aholics, downloading apps for quite literally everything. Brands who haven't tapped that market are missing out on huge opportunities to get millennial eyeballs on their products and services.

And while it might seem that we're a fickle bunch, jumping on every "bright shiny object" as fast as they can make them, one thing millennials aren't fickle about are their smartphones. This generation is on top of what's next, and anticipate upgrades and changes to technology - often comparing the latest innovations with colleagues, family, and friends. Who gets what and when is a bit of a badge of honor with Millennials, and the clamor for the newest tech is very real.

Millennials want more. They want it now. They want it newer. And they want it faster than ever before. They consume and share content like crazy - but it has to be good - innovative, and cutting edge. They want easy and transportable. They want connectivity and share-ability.

They want all of the above, but they don't want it from a brand, necessarily - they want it from trusted sources - and who's more trusted than their own social communities, and there social communities. And so on, and so on.

Traditional marketing will no longer cut it. In an age where information is shared instantaneously, the millennial generation is incredibly adept at filtering out everything except what they want.

If, as an advertiser, you're not cognizant of these generational wants and needs, and continue to build your marketing strategies around outdated ideas, you will find your ads - and your brands - very, very lonely.

Image: Creative Commons

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Research Shows Millennials Don't Respond To Ads

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The nature of media and advertisement is constantly changing. With every new generation, old rules have to be reconsidered or thrown out when ineffective. The same old advertising techniques will not always work on the new generation. In particular, the millennials are proving to be a challenging market. They are, as [...]

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The new two-storey shop, at almost 50,000 sq ft, is twice the size of the former Zara store in the east London shopping centre.

It is the first Zara store globally to feature new digital technology that integrates the online and offline shopping experiences.

The store has a dedicated area for the purchase and collection of online orders on the first floor, in addition to the usual sections for women's, men's and kids' lines. This online area features two automated online order collection points, serviced by a concealed area that can handle 2,400 orders simultaneously.

Shoppers scan QR or PIN codes they receive when they place orders online. Behind the pick-up point, a robotic arm collects trays and organises the packages optimally according to their size, and delivers orders in seconds.

Interactive mirrors equipped with RFID will be able to detect the product a customer is holding, allowing them to see what it looks like on a model displayed in the mirror. Online orders are available in store on the same day if made before 2pm, or the next day if made in the afternoon.

Complementing the regular tills, there is a self-checkout area with a system that automatically identifies products being purchased. Zara staff with iPads will also be able to accept payments.

The store has a fully open entrance on the ground floor, with no glass. This allows shoppers a full view of the store's interior and collections. Many of the display tables have been removed, creating a more spacious look and feel. White walls and a white reflective ceiling also add to the bright, airy feeling.

The shop also has a men's, women's and kid's range made exclusively for the Stratford store.

The Stratford store has been under refurbishment since January, and was temporarily replaced with Zara's first online pop up store. The pop-up closed on 16 May.

Pablo Isla, chairman and CEO of Zara's parent company Inditex, said: "The reopening of Zara's flagship in Stratford is an important moment for Inditex. We are in a unique position as we enjoy a global sales platform that fully integrates stores and online. In recent years we have invested in both the most advanced technology and optimised our stores for this aim. Our business model combines stores and digital seamlessly, and we are ready for the opportunities that this brings with current and new customers."

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First look: Zara's new digital Westfield store

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The new two-storey shop, at almost 50,000 sq ft, is twice the size of the former Zara store in the east London shopping centre. It is the first Zara store globally to feature new digital technology that integrates the online and offline shopping experiences.

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‘value teamwork and seek input and affirmation of others’

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What do you know about millennials? If nothing, you better learn quickly; they're your next workforce.

It is always a good practice for hiring managers and business owners to know the generational characteristics of the workers they hire.

Millennials, for instance, are not like any other generation before them, and have characteristics to both their work and non-work lives.

As this generation grows older and begins to enter the workforce, it is a good idea that employers know who millennials truly are.

Despite their rap, whether for better or worse, if you and your company stand to survive in today's market, at some point or the other, you will have to hire millennials.

Sure, that may seem daunting after you've heard all the millennials will and will not do, especially when it comes to being employed. Yet two things need to be kept in mind when faced with the millennial-aged worker:

Sure, millennials may seem demanding and difficult, particularly if you've employed people from the baby boomer generation who are traditionally known to do anything possible to get the job done. However, you have to know that generations change, and part of your responsibility as a manager/employer is to adapt yourself to their changes.

Apart from any other available workforce out in the world, you have no current choice but to hire millennials.

According to Legal Careers, the millennial characteristics are not strange or unapproachable; they're simply different as have been all other generational characteristics before them.

With that point made, let's first shed some light on what exactly a millennial is.
What is a Millennial?
Millennials, or members of Generation Y (also known as Gen Y) were born between 1982 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau estimates that there are 83.1 million millennials in the U.S., and the Pew Research Center found that millennials surpassed baby boomers to become the largest living generation in the United States in 2016.

Millennials are separated from the older generation before them (Generation X) and the generation that followed them (Generation Z).
What Are the Millennial Characteristics?
As expected by their birth years, the millennial generation makes up the fastest growing segment of the workforce. As companies compete for available talent, employers simply cannot ignore the needs, desires, and attitudes of this vast generation. As with each generation that preceded it, Millennials have come to be defined by a set of characteristics formed mainly by the world and culture they grew up in. Keep reading to find out the 6 most important characteristics of millennials.

Generation Y grew up with technology, and they rely on it to perform their jobs better. Armed with smartphones, laptops, and other gadgets, this generation is plugged in 24/7. They like to communicate through email, text messaging, and whatever new social media platform (i.e., Twitter, Instagram) friends and colleagues are using. This is a generation that can't even imagine a world without the internet or cell phones.

2. M illennials Are Family-Centric

The fast-track lifestyle has lost much of its appeal for millennials. The members of this generation are willing to trade high pay for fewer billable hours, flexible schedules, and a better work-life balance. Although older generations may view this attitude as narcissistic or see it as a lack of commitment, discipline, and drive, Millennials have a different idea of workplace expectations. Millennials usually prioritize family over work, and even those who aren't married with children feel the need to be a part of a family and spend time with nieces, nephews, and siblings.

3. Millennials Are Achievement-Oriented

Nurtured and pampered by parents who didn't want to make the mistakes of the previous generation, millennials are confident, ambitious, and achievement-oriented. They also have high expectations of their employers, tend to seek new challenges at work, and aren't afraid to question authority. Generation Y wants meaningful work and a solid learning curve.

4. Millennials are Team-Oriented

While growing up, most millennial boys and girls participated in team sports, playgroups, and other group activities, whether it is soccer or ballet. They value teamwork and seek the input and affirmation of others. Millennials are the true no-person-left-behind generation, loyal and committed. They want to be included and involved.

5. Generation Y Craves Attention

Generation Y craves feedback and guidance. They appreciate being kept in the loop and often need frequent praise and reassurance. Millennials may benefit greatly from mentors who can help guide and develop their talents. This is where the boomers come in handy because (though mostly retired), they have something to offer and see mentoring millennials is one way they can continue to contribute to the workforce.

6. Generation Y Is Prone to Job-Hopping

A potential downside of Generation Y workers is that they're always looking for something new and better. It's not uncommon for a millennial to stay with a company for only two or three years before moving on to a position they think is better. The resumes you receive from millennial job seekers will undoubtedly demonstrate this peppered job history.

You shouldn't discount members of this generation just because they've worked for several firms - these young employees bring with them a variety of experiences. Unlike previous generations, they do not take a job and then hold onto it for as long as humanly possible. But that could be to your advantage with the ideas and energy millennials can bring to your business if given the opportunity to be hired.
Concluding the Millennials
Generation Y possesses many characteristics that are unique in comparison to past generations. They tend to be excited about their jobs, and they will work hard and efficiently. They might approach their superiors as equals more so than previous generations, but companies can take steps to draw a line between supervisor and friend. When that line is drawn, millennials will not only work tirelessly for you, but they will show you the respect due to a supervisor with many years of experience.

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The 6 Common Characteristics of Millennial Professionals

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What do you know about millennials? If nothing, you better learn quickly; they're your next workforce. It is always a good practice for hiring managers and business owners to know the generational characteristics of the workers they hire. Millennials, for instance, are not like any other generation before them, and have characteristics to both their work and non-work lives.

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'84% of Millennials believe it is their duty to change the world'

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Deloitte research reveals "resilient generations." In the face of unprecedented health and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, millennials and Gen Zs express resolve and a vision to build a better future.

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Deloitte research reveals "resilient generations." In the face of unprecedented health and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, millennials and Gen Zs express resolve and a vision to build a better future.

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‘68% of Millennials demand the convenience of omnichannel accessibility during their shopping journey'

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How Each Generation Shops in 2020 - Salesfloor

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Shopping habits of different generations.

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‘highly responsive supply chain ships new products to stores twice a week’

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In my previous blog post, I highlighted three companies - Uniqlo, Zara, and - that are making strides by bucking traditional retail models. In that post, I described Uniqlo's focus on quality and longevity; CEO Tadashi Yanai's strategy is to avoid trendy fashions and build a supply chain to deliver technology-based, differentiated products, which appeal to the masses.

Now it's time to turn our attention to Zara, a company that sits firmly at the opposite end of the strategy spectrum from Uniqlo but has achieved similar levels of success.
Zara: Responding to Consumer Trends
Spanish apparel company Zara has built its strategy around consumer trends, embracing the fast-changing tastes of its customers. To do this successfully, Zara has developed a highly responsive supply chain that enables delivery of new fashions as soon as a trend emerges.

Zara delivers new products twice each week to its 1,670 stores around the world. This adds up to more than 10,000 new designs each year! It takes the company only 10 to 15 days to go from the design stage to the sales floor. Because of this streamlined model, Zara is not forced to be ahead of the curve. Rather, they exist on the curve, evaluating trends first, then following.

How is Zara able to do this? By being fast and flexible.

Zara was designed to be responsive from its inception. Rather than subcontracting manufacturing to Asia, Zara built 14 highly automated Spanish factories, where robots work around the clock cutting and dyeing fabrics and creating unfinished "gray goods," the foundations of their final products. Like Uniqlo, Zara leverages automaker principles; these automated factories use a "just in time" inventory approach pioneered by Toyota Motor Company.

Zara has also created a partner network of more than 300 small shops in Portugal and Galacia to handle the finishing work; here, the gray goods are transformed into dresses and suits. By following this approach, if an item looks like a winner, Zara can quickly ramp up manufacturing and get items to their stores in a matter of days.

Zara has been very successful with this approach and is a big reason why its parent company, Spanish firm SA, is now the world's largest clothing retailer. Inditex SA grew revenue 10% to $19.15 billion for its fiscal year ending January 31, 2012.

Another hallmark of its success is that Zara's approach has not gone unnoticed. Some U.S.-based apparel companies are now following suit, manufacturing longer-lead-time gray goods in Asia and finishing in the U.S. This approach allows these companies get products into their stores - and into their customers' hands - more quickly.
Up Next: H&M
Uniqlo and Zara: polar opposites in approach, but on the same end of the success spectrum. Next time, I'll explore H&M, a company that splits the difference as far as strategy but doesn't sacrifice any of the success.
Related on Forbes:

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The Future Of Fashion Retailing: The Zara Approach (Part 2 of 3)

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In my previous blog post, I highlighted three companies - Uniqlo, Zara, and - that are making strides by bucking traditional retail models. In that post, I described Uniqlo's focus on quality and longevity; CEO Tadashi Yanai's strategy is to avoid trendy fashions and build a supply chain to deliver technology-based, differentiated products, which appeal to the masses.

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'Non-traditional'

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Millennials represent a significant opportunity for marketers as they come to an age and level of income where long-term buying habits are established. Continuing our series comparing two generations, we examine how loyal Millennials are to brands in comparison to their younger counterparts in Gen Z.

60% of Millennials identify themselves as brand-loyal, stating that once they find a brand they stick to it, while half describe themselves as brand-conscious. Meanwhile, Gen Z report lower figures of 55% and 42% respectively. The question that arises then is how brands can best engage this younger generation.

One clue emerges when we ask respondents what role they wish brands to play in their life. Where Millennials are most different from the average here is for wanting a brand to improve their image and make them feel cool/trendy, while for Gen Z providing entertaining content performs particularly well. So it seems that Millennials' loyalty can be targeted through their desire for status, while entertaining content is the key for engaging the less brand-enthused Generation Z.

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Millennials more Brand-Loyal and Brand-Conscious than Gen Z - GlobalWebIndex Blog

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Millennials represent a significant opportunity for marketers as they come to an age and level of income where long-term buying habits are established. Continuing our series comparing two generations, we examine how loyal Millennials are to brands in comparison to their younger counterparts in Gen Z.

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H&M Membership | Join to Collect Points & Rewards

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Become a member at H&M today to enter a world of fashion with benefits. Collect loyalty points to get access to special offers, rewards and exclusive events.

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In the past few months, I've had the opportunity to watch our Forbes Under 30 franchise express itself at Forbes summits and events in London, Israel, Vietnam and Singapore. (Tough job, but someone has to do it and not bad for this 30X2ish media guy.) This extraordinary series of get-togethers follow our Under 30 list announcements highlighting some of the world's most influential young entrepreneurs and are stimulating, enlightening and fun. We've done some research about this fascinating cohort group, and I thought that I'd share that research here along with a few photos from our Under 30 "road show."

A new Forbes survey of some the most influential millennials in America finds that 80% of U.S. entrepreneurs under the age of 30 still believe in the American dream. Not only is this generation optimistic, they are also altruistic, with 80% of them active in their community outside of work.

With a detailed questionnaire, Forbes found that younger people welcome change and 86% were "very confident" about their future earning potential and certain that the companies that employ them will grow and thrive. They are also idealistic with nearly 50% citing changing the world for the better as a goal. Forty-four percent said that the opportunity to change the world motivates them to be successful.

These Forbes millennials, however, communicate much differently than previous generations. The best way to reach out to them is through the Internet and social media. Sixty-seven percent get their news from trusted websites such as the New York Times or CNN and 61% rely on links friends share with them. Only 38% read print newspapers and magazines. Avid users of social media, Facebook, by far, is their no. 1 choice for posting content (43%), followed by Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat. They avoid brick-and-mortar stores, with 65% preferring to shop online.

Being an entrepreneur is important to this millennial generation. Forty-four percent said that their no. 1 financial priority is funding an entrepreneurial endeavor. More than half report that their biggest financial regret is not saving enough money. Where do they get their financial advice? Parents and friends are the source of this information for 66%.

Contrary to popular belief, only a tiny fraction live with their parents, and more than 53% do not have student loans. Reflecting the new trend toward urbanization, 79% live or plan to live in cities. This gravitation towards urban life means that 30% see no need to own a car.

What challenges do they deem most important to them? Twenty-seven percent replied global warming, 24% said terrorism and 22% said the economy and future recession.

They are loyal to brands, particularly , with 80% buying the iPhone over other providers citing superior design as their motivation.

Though they seek change, these Forbes millennials are not revolutionaries. The survey demonstrates that these young people want to work within the system. They look for meaning in their work and are attracted to entrepreneurial endeavors. Nonprofit organizations should reach out to them as they are receptive to any efforts that will make the world a better place. And, again, the best way to reach them is through social media.

Perhaps most important, 97% of these millennials are extremely optimistic about what lies ahead for them. Harnessing and nurturing this optimism should be a goal of all American companies hoping to show millennials that their firms' contribution will make the world a better place.

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Forbes Survey Reveals What Millennials Really Want

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In the past few months, I've had the opportunity to watch our Forbes Under 30 franchise express itself at Forbes summits and events in London, Israel, Vietnam and Singapore. (Tough job, but someone has to do it and not bad for this 30X2ish media guy.)

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Primary Research

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View and analyze results from the Generation Y and Zara SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.

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Primary Research

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View and analyze results from the Generation Y and Zara SurveyMonkey survey. See actual response data, text summaries and word clouds.