Digital Natives About to Flex Fiscal Muscles

Shaking off the superfluous label: “Millennials,” but rather people who have never been without the internet (a.k.a. Digitally Native,) are now aging into their optimal spending years. So get ready. While their lust for technology makes them obvious leaders of the mobile payment movement, they’re also dramatically influencing commerce overall, for generations to come.

At the speed of “now.”

We know that Digital Natives check their devices within five minutes of waking up, digest multiple screens throughout the day, and choose their entertainment at their own fast pace (rather than traditional programmed media.) They don’t “embrace,” technology, they “take it for granted.” In fact, its not an overstatement to say they influence the technology of tomorrow. They expect their services and products to be innovative, easy and mobile.

Larger than life.

Their heritage is vital and large, as they are the biggest generation at 80 million consumers. Its no wonder they hold the purse strings at approximately $200 billion in purchasing power – and they know it! They experience their influence at a bigger impact than those that came before them, and they expect the rewards to be for the greater good.

For me.

The new metric for quality is only as good as it’s relevance to the individual (not the masses.) Instant gratification is the baseline, and it is assumed to be well (data) informed down to the single consumer insight. Brands who understand how to deliver quickly and authentically will win their hearts and fiscal loyalty, by utilizing tactics such as:
• simplify experience
• keep it transparent
• be a good human

Their inclination for technology means eCommerce sites would do well to adopt an omni-channel approach. This is a no brainer, right? However this does not only mean mobile-first, and channel cohesion. It also means using technology to deliver an evolving story, with each new physical and digital consumer’s encounter throughout the experience.

Today, today is the day.

This flux of Digital Natives embarking on their own prime purchasing era, means that mobile and eCommerce are also approaching their own accelerated awakening (moving even faster than businesses can build infrastructures.) This includes payment technologies, improved Omni-experiences and connecting the brands to movements that matter. eCommerce businesses will need to invest today, in order to compete with the consumer of the (Digitally Native and very near future.)

Tags | data, digital, ecommerce, millennial, mobile, native, purchasing power, wallet