Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson stated “digital
availability, pricing transparency, and in-store fresh prepared food ethnically
authentic combined attract both Gen Z and Millennial consumers. Garnering Gen Z and Millennial customers is
not as difficult as many make it out to be.
Remember consumers are dynamic not static and your brand must try new grocerant
focused tactics to succeed.
Here is one example Costco
recently revealed an increase focus on organics and tests with coupon websites
like LivingSocial
as appealing particularly to Millennial and Gen Z consumer. During Quarterly
results they “Now, it was just a couple of years ago when the average U.S.
Costco adult member was four-plus years older than the population as a whole.
Now, it's a little under two.
Acosta Senior VP Colin Stewart
stated that “The typical grocery store, especially center store, is the same as
it’s been since the 1960s.” Today Generation Y seeks experiences, and seeks everything
digital.
Stewart continued “(grocery stores…need to
figure out the right way to integrate digital into all of that to make sure
it’s relevant for that younger shopper group.” He went on to say Millennials’
need for an experience at the grocery store is that they prefer to shop with
other people. Over three-quarters of Gen Y shop with someone else, compared to 60% of the
overall population.
“In general, Millennials are a little bit more
experiential, and I think shopping with others is part of that shopping
experience,” said Stewart. Gen Yers are
most often shopping with their children (41%), but also shop with a spouse or
partner (38%) or other adults (29%), such as parents, friends, roommates or
other relatives.
Marianne Quinlan-Sacksteder, Acosta’s director
of insights, noted Hispanic Millennials use grocery shopping as “a social
experience” where they can go out into the community and interact with friends
and neighbors. Hispanic Millennials are even more likely to shop with
others, with 88% visiting the grocery store with someone else.
Acosta’s latest research The Why Behind the Buy also found Millennials want
digital to be a big part of the grocery shopping experience. “When you look at
the numbers, obviously Millennials outrank any other generation on just about
anything to do with digital and shopping, whether that’s looking up prices,
looking up product ingredients, [or] looking up reviews on products,” said
Stewart. “But I think it’s really almost just an expectation of Millennials
that there’s going to be some sort of way that they can use that device in
their hand,” for food buying and preparation.
Digital matters in markets where grocery
e-commerce is available, 64% of Gen Yers said they shop online at least once a
month, compared to 43% of all shoppers. Millennials are also far more likely to
have tried a meal kit delivery service. Six in 10 Gen Yers have ordered from a
service like Blue Apron, HelloFresh or Plate, compared to 10% of Boomers.
According to Stewart, meal kits speak to
multiple Millennial desires. Forty-five percent of Gen Y shoppers want to take
cooking classes to learn how to prepare new meals and dishes. Meal kit recipes
also tend to include ingredients perceived as healthy. Acosta’s research found
39.1% of items in Millennials’ shopping baskets are organic, vs. 25.5% for all
shoppers.
Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of
Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform
for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation,
and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.usor
visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for
more information.
