The Purchasing Behavior of Urban Millennial Women

We're strong, independent, mindful women who are ready to spend our hard earned money. We can be persuaded to support a cause we care about, for the right price. We're definitely not ready to live in the 'burbs, because life is too good in the city, and no way are we spending that much on weekend Ubers. We are overly prepared to click on Instagram ads for clothes, but we always check the reviews. We set career goals and life intentions, and reward ourselves with material objects. We indulge in full-price items quarterly but live for the deals. We've decided in quality over quantity, but convenience and customer service reign supreme.

We are urban millennial women.

According to Forbes, millennial women represent $200 billion/year in spending power and are expected to represent the largest spending power of any generation. They're calling us "a force to be reckoned with." We agree; we are a force. But if you want to reckon with us, you'll have to check all of our boxes before we click your PayPal extension. In order to sell us something, you have to understand who we are and what we value.

4  Purchasing Values of Urban Millennial Women

1. Convenience

Everyone knows we shop online but did you know we spend more online than in the store? According to buxtonco.com, millennials spend an average of $75 per online visit and an average of $57 per in-store visit. For this reason, your ecommerce usability needs to be flawless. If everything is going great until the checkout point, and we need to fill out our billing address more than twice, we dip out. 25% of us use a smartphone to shop online, so get your responsiveness together.

Urban millennial women shop online because we value our time above most things in life. Why spend the time driving to the store and dealing with other humans when we can get this done at 11:3opm, in sweatpants and no make-up and have it show up in 24-48 hours? Our mom friends tell us about this curbside pickup thing--game changer.

2. Customer Service

We need your attention, and we need it now. We are an instant-gratification generation and we expect a response within 10 minutes. If your product or service is underwhelming, we expect you to handle the situation with grace. We also have this thing against talking on the phone, so if you could take care of the situation via online chat, that'd be great. Forbes says, "Authentic, caring communication is in, scripted service is out. Dress codes, prohibitions on visible tattoos, stiflingly choreographed customer service? That’s not what Millennials are looking for from service providers."

We have been exposed to some great customer service that raises the bar for all companies, and the horrible customer service is easy to deal with; we move on to your competitor. If we're shopping online, the only time we will be exposed to your service is if there is a problem. You can't woo us with your checkout clerk, so be equipped to solve the problem to ensure return customers.

3. Brand Engagement

There are many opportunities for brands to connect with us and encourage an emotional connection, leading us to buy. We like to feel like we are part of something, not buying into it. According to TrackMaven, brand engagement is defined by, "the level of consumer consciousness of a company. It measures a potential customer’s ability to not only recognize a brand image but to also associate it with a certain company’s product or service." When you're executing your brand engagement tactics, make them relate to us. Show us women who look like, sounds like, and act like us experiencing your product.

How do you increase brand engagement to urban millennial women? Bustle, a millennial-focused publisher, conducted a study of 1,000 millennial women that concluded 81% of them said social media is the most effective way for brands to reach them. This staggering statistic well defines your platform, but high-quality, on-brand content on your social media is going to convert to sales. Social media is your moment to show us how your brand makes women's lives better and easier, and we will start to imagine ourselves as part of your brand. If you're preparing for a new product or service launch, check out these social media tactics from Brainchild Studios.

4. Reviews

Reviews matter. A lot. We trust what other people say about a product because as online shoppers, we don't see it until it shows up. We are still wary of things that seem like they should cost more, and we need to be reassured that its been successful for those who have come before us. If something has a bad review, we acknowledge the sincere responses from the maker or company that may be offering an apology or even a refund. Brainchild Studios has conducted proprietary customer research for millennial moms and have gathered data confirming personal recommendations are significantly more impactful than online reviews/non-personal recommendations found online. One urban millennial mom interviewee said, “If a friend recommends something, I just buy it. I don’t research it." Now that's saying something.

If you want to tap into the market of urban millennial women, you need to know who we are and how our values drive our purchasing decisions. If your buying experience is easy and convenient, with authentic and helpful customer service you're on the right track to our hearts. If your reviews are good and we connect with your brand on an emotional level, then you've sealed the deal.

Welcome to the buying power of urban millennial women.