One of the most popular activities for young families is going to the supermarket together and “hunting” for various foods for the week. This activity has obviously declined considerably in the last few decades, largely due to millennials refusing to start families, or leave their homes, for that matter. Nowadays, you can just open an app and get everything you need delivered to your home. In fact, Amazon is actively pursuing a future where consumable products are automatically purchased, delivered and replaced in your fridge the moment they run out.
With the ease of ordering food online and getting it straight to your door, it’s hardly a surprise that you almost never see millennials at supermarkets. Another reason for the decline in offline retail sales is the inability to compare prices. Why go through the effort of purchasing something in a retail store, when you can find the same item for a cheaper price using your phone in mere seconds?
Millennials Are Opting For Rental Apps Rather Than Hotels
When people from our previous generation wanted to go on vacation, the first thing they did was look for the best flight and hotel package they could find. It seems that today’s generation is much less fond of the classic vacation package, which is why hotels' profits are suffering. Recent services, such as the popular Airbnb, have made vacation apartment renting a much more popular and appealing option, due to the lower prices and more authentic experience.
Hotels, which are more traditional forms of vacationing, are now mostly geared towards families and business trips. Even frugal travelers are starting to ditch cheaper hotels, such as the Holiday Inn. What’s the point of paying extra for house cleaning and other services when you can just rent a small apartment for a few days for a much cheaper price?
They’re Driving Prices Down
An interesting study recently found that millennials pay much less attention and respect to a brand’s name, reputation or product quality. The main decision that drives a millennial to purchase a product from one brand over another almost always prices. Most millennials report that they would happily switch brands if they find an alternative that is 30% cheaper.
It’s much less common nowadays to see a crazy stampede running into the mall on these kinds of occasions; what you’re much more likely to find is millions and millions of people making frenzied purchases online for the cheapest prices.
Millennials Prefer Soap Bottles to Soap Bars
Today’s generation has more awareness around hygiene. Consider millennials' aversion to soap bars. They favor soap bottles that don't require directly applying the whole bar to your skin, although the older generation wouldn't agree. There’s no scientific basis why soap bars would be less clean than regular soap bottles, but millennials clearly mind a lot.
A recent survey by MarketWatch found that 60% of millennials feel that soap bars are full of germs and are disgusted by them. This is in sharp contrast to more than 60% of Americans aged 65 and above who say that they’ll be happy to wash their faces with soap bars.
Cereals Are Becoming a Thing of the Past
This generation is always criticized by their parents as being entitled, privileged and too sensitive. Many would say they expect everyone else to do everything for them. It’s clear by today’s technological advances and relative prosperity why that would be the case. One of the more recent victims of this socio-economical and psychological trend is that cereal is starting to disappear as a popular breakfast option. About 40% of millennials have stated that they do not eat cereal for breakfast, according to a recent survey by The New York Times.
Their main reason for this answer might make you pluck your hair out, or it might just make sense if you’re a millennial yourself. Most young people today don’t eat cereal for breakfast because they, and we are quoting, think it “was an inconvenient breakfast choice because they had to clean up after eating it”. It’s apparently too much work nowadays to wash a spoon and bowl.