In the past decade, there has been no greater influence on consumerism than the rise of the internet. The integration of online retailers, smart phones, and even social media have increased the availability and development of products and trends. Not surprisingly, millennials are at the forefront of mobile coupon use and are increasingly using more mobile discounts.  According to research by Valassis, 47% of U.S. millennial coupon users in Q3 2015 used more discounts than in the year before. And 45% used more mobile coupons compared to 30% of all coupon users in the U.S.

 

According to Statista Dossier's presentation, “Millennial in the U.S.: Internet & Online Shopping,” the most popular online activity for U.S. Millennial as of February 2015 was “checking and sending mail,” with 72% of respondents spending most of their time communicating digitally. That's no surprise, but the report also found that millennials like to shop online. “Shopping or researching products” was the seventh most popular online activity for U.S. millennials in that same time period. Of those surveyed, 56% spend time browsing and/or investigating products. And 65% were online researching topics they are interested in or pursuing hobbies.

 

Statista also discovered that as of December 2014, 62% of millennial mothers use their smartphones when in-store shopping to search for and/or download mobile coupons. That was the most popular in-store shopping activity reported, ahead of 51% who use their smartphones to search for better prices elsewhere.

 

And while Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers are looking to retailer websites and other traditional sources for mobile coupons, millennials are searching outside the "box" to find other discounts, most notably on social networks. Valassis reports that 63% of millennials Internet users in Q3 2015 were looking to social networks for mobile coupons. Compare that to the two previous generations (Gen X and Baby Boomers), with just 39% and 17%, respectively, looking to social networks for product discounts.

 

The earlier-mentioned Statista report found that “Keeping up with what friends are doing,” was the second-most popular online activities of millennials, with 71% of respondents confirming their social activity. If their friends are getting outdoors, buying and recommending outdoor-related products or just showing off their new purchases, you can bet their millennial counterparts will be in the know.

 

And consider how millennial Internet users prefer to discover new content and information via social. Statista reports that as of June 2014, three of the top five discovery channels for millennials were social networks: Facebook (#1), Twitter (#2) and YouTube (#5). Statista also confirms that 66% of millennials, as of November 2014, “received a good suggestion for something to try,” on social media. Finally, consider the staggering amount of time millennials are spending on social media. Statista reports that in June 2015, millennials spent an average of 25.7 hours per month on Facebook alone!  And Statista also found that as of March 2015, those in the 18- to 34-year-old group were far more likely to compare online prices (72%) than folks in older demographics.

 

In 2016, eMarketer projects there will be 127.5 million digital coupon users in the United States – up 5.2% from 121.3 users. Think about the power of social networks and how you could benefit by getting mobile coupons in front of outdoors-loving millennials. They are online, shopping and researching, looking for discounts and sharing suggestions and their discoveries with friends – hour after hour after hour.

 

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