Back in the days when family dinners were still a thing, families used to need a large amount of napkins due to the mess associated with such meals. You’d have many napkins scattered across the table, usually one or two for each guest, and another pack of them in the middle of the table. In today’s modern age of fast food, and much more streamlined eating, people don’t really buy napkins anymore, because they simply don’t use them.
Millennials are much more prone to just using their shirt or a towel to clean their food leftovers. There was an important consumer studies report that made this fact extremely clear. Less than two decades ago, about 60% of households reported they buy napkins. Today, that number is just about 40%.
They Absolutely Love Buying Mobile Phones
Let’s face it, millennials are absolutely addicted to their phones. Phone sales have peaked in recent years, with some millennials forking their last few dollars (sometimes even going in debt) just to buy the brand new iPhone. In the past, these devices used to be about simple communication and practical necessity. Nowadays, many millennials treat their phones as status symbols, showing just how sophisticated they are for having the latest Android or iPhone.
There has been a small resurgence of classic phones in recent years, with companies like Motorola trying to revive their dead flip-phone model, this time with a touch screen. Phone technology has stagnated recently, with the biggest improvements usually being around cameras and social media fluidity. However, we do expect to see a very different set of mobile phones in the next few years.
Postcards Are Turning Into a Thing of the Past
Back in the day, everyone used to either collect or use postcards. Letters were the main way for people to communicate with others. Nowadays, it’s almost like a joke. This is especially true when you consider all the bad press that the post office gets, coupled with the fact that you can instantly send a message to someone across the other side of the world. Back in the day, about 20 million postcards were sold annually. That number is now down by about 75%, and this decline is just accelerating.
With apps such as Facebook and Whatsapp, what’s the point of sending a physical letter anymore? The only thing that made postcards unique is the fact they came with various photos of beautiful locations on them. With technology, it’s fairly easy to get photos of anywhere you like, whenever you want them, which makes the whole postcard thing obsolete.
Millennials Hate Business Suits
Almost every adult who has worked in the corporate sector used to wear suits in the ‘80s and ‘90s. You would walk across the streets of Manhattan and be surrounded by men and women everywhere wearing business attire. Nowadays, we have a much more laid-back style of work in various businesses, especially tech companies, which cause most millennials to go to work in either casual or even beach attire.
There’s only a handful of industries that still require the classic business attire. These are mostly professions where optics are just as important as performance. We still have people in law and finance wearing suits, but almost every other industry has ditched these in favor of more casual T-shirts and denim jeans. If you take a look at some of the younger billionaires in the US and Europe, you’ll notice that most of them dress like your average college student.
Board Game Sales Are on the Decline
Millennials are much more accustomed to digital games, and almost always prefer a good video game over a real-life board game. Many of these board games have also been digitized and turned into phone apps and computer games, making them much less appealing to your average consumer. The only people left buying board games are die-hard nerds and families who still hold traditional games as an important activity (rather than subjecting their children to screens all day).
Despite overall sale drops, some news outlets have reported that interest in board games has been rising lately. It seems that some millennials are getting a bit tired of being in front of computers and mobile screens all day long, and are looking for a more real and social experience. The best example of this is the German board game "Settlers of Catan", which has recently risen in popularity despite originally being released in 1995.