Millennial CashISSUE No 2 of 10

Currency has evolved over time from bartering to bitcoin. And when it comes to shopping, we’ve gone from bricks to clicks. That said, millennials have one foot firmly planted in both the future and the past.

Bricks and ClicksIs shopping digital or experiential? Millennials take a pragmatic approach to the time they spend shopping. For groceries (73%) and clothing (62%), they go the brick and mortar route. But for electronics, slightly more go online (50%). And even in an age with Amazon flexing its retail muscles, 34% of millennials still buy books in a physical store. For all purchases, more prefer smaller retailers as 36% shop at specialty stores and 27% shop at big-box retailers. Income also plays a role in shopping channel preferences. Higher income millennials are less likely than lower income millennials to shop in person for groceries (20%) and beauty products (42%) but more likely to shop in person for cars (nearly 3x more) jewelry (70% more), sports equipment (2x more) and travel (10x more).

Grocer ies Clothing Electronics Jewelry & Watches

Health & Beauty Products

Sports Equipment

T H I N G S P R I M A R I LY P U R C H A S E D A T B R I C K - A N D - M O R T A R S T O R E S

50%

10%

60%

20%

70%

80%

30%

40%

Low-income Millennials High-income Millennials

0%

Even in an age with Amazon flexing its retail muscles, 34% of millennials still buy books in a physical store

27%

BIG -BOX RETA ILERS

36%

SPECIALT Y STORES

F O R A L L P U R C H A S E S , M I L L E N N I A L S P R E F E R :

Who to Trust?Trust can only be earned, and millennials are loathe to trust advertisers’ claims unchecked. Instead, most of them (54%) turn to independent review sites and friends to decide what’s worth their hard-earned dollars.

It also pays to have smart friends who can help in a purchase pinch because millennials with a college degree and higher income are 24% more likely to rely on friends for product advice than those with a less than a high school degree and lower income. The rise of social media product reviews is not lost on millennials as they are over 3x more likely to turn to social media for product purchase advice than their parents.

54%

Millennials are over 3x more likely to turn to social media for product purchase advice than older generations

M I L L E N N I A L S W H O P R E F E R I N D E P E N D E N T R E V I E W S I T E S A N D

F R I E N D S T O M A K E P U R C H A S E S

Currency has evolved from bartering to bitcoin, and shopping has gone from bricks to clicks

Checks Aren’t Void Cash is Still KingWe’ve all been there: the senior citizen in the checkout aisle pulls out their checkbook while everyone in line discreetly starts eyeing the wait in the other lines. But it turns out that senior citizens aren’t the only ones who dust off the checkbook from time to time. Forty-two percent of millennials still write checks, too. That means more millennials write checks than own leading video game consoles (34%). In fact, almost 3x more millennials use checks than use mobile payment platforms. But while millennials are check-writers to a degree, boomers are almost twice as likely to write checks than millennials - especially in the checkout aisle.

Credit card payments are most common but 80% of millennials still use cash and 64% carry cash most of the time. More millennials use cash than debit cards and 4x more millennials use cash than the top mobile payment platforms. Being unemployed not only drains your bank account but it can also drain your pockets as unemployed millennials are 36% less likely to carry cash than those who are employed.

M I L L E N N I A L PAY M E N T H A B I T S :

More millennials use cash than debit cards and 4x more millennials use cash than mobile payment platforms.

M I L L E N N I A L S W H O U S E C A S H

M I L L E N N I A L S W H O C A R R Y C A S H

M O S T T H E T I M E

80% 64%

42%80%

CHECKS

CASH

more millennials use cash than top mobile payment platforms

Advertising AgeIt turns out that millennials aren’t the ad-resistant youngsters we thought they were. Fifty-seven percent say they are influenced by advertising, that’s 2x more than older generations.

57%

P E R C E N T O F M I L L E N N I A L S S AY T H E Y A R E I N F L U E N C E D B Y A D V E R T I S I N G :

Early Adoption of Payment ServicesPayPal is established with millennials as 62% of them use it. Millennials are 16x more likely to use Apple Pay and Android Pay than are boomers. Millennials are also 6x more likely than boomers and Genx to use the payment service Venmo.

L I K E L I H O O D T O U S E V E N M O :

M I L L E N N I A L S

T O

G E N X E R S & B O O M E R S

Millennials shop at brick and mortar stores for groceries, while they shop online for electronics