Gen Y Online Shopping Stats

Written on the 29 October 2009

If your business sells to Generation Y consumers, it's essential that you understand how they shop.  Here are some recent statistics from Hitwise Intelligence to give you some hints:

Bricks and mortar searches much more dominant than online brands. 18-24 year old females and males were both more likely to search for bricks and mortar brands, accounting for 73% and 70% of searches respectively.

18-24 year old females are more brand-conscious than males. 85% of top shopping searches by females were for brand names only, compared to 82% for males.

18-24 year old males are more product-oriented in their searches than females. Product terms accounted for 16% of searches by males compared to 12% for females.

So what does this mean for bricks and mortar retailers?

If your business targets the 18-24 year old market, you must have an online presence or you are missing out on a huge amount of potential sales.  Your consumers are now so internet savvy that if they are looking to buy something, they will search online first and go straight to the store that sells what they want, rather than window-shopping or heading to a shopping centre.  So even if you don't sell your products online, you need a professional looking online presence with a detailed product catalogue to capture their interest.

If your target customers are female then your online marketing (eg. AdWords, keywords on your site, featured brands/products) should be brand focused, while if you are targeting males it should focus on the products themselves.