EXCLUSIVE: Understanding what drives Millennials
The NPD Group has revealed that Millennials (18-34yo) account for 29% of the Out of Home traffic. They eat out or drink out 3.3 billion times and spend £14.8 billion each year. But Millennials have been going out less in the market (-3.1% in visits in Year End June 2016 vs YE June 2010) when the 35+ year old have increased their visits by 1.8%. This represents 106 million fewer visits made by 18-34yo compared to 6 years ago.
However, even if Millennials share many attitudes and expectations towards life, they cannot be treated as a whole by restaurants and marketers. Indeed, 18-24 are responsible for the full decline in traffic of Millennials (-11% vs Year End June 2010) as 25-34yo have slightly increased their visits to the market in this period (+1%).
Not all sectors are providing the kind of experience that Millennials are looking for. Despite a clear improvement in the past year Pubs still struggle to attract these younger adults. Casual Dining restaurants are a great benchmark for the industry on how to provide good value for money and experience to these very demanding consumers.
Cyril Lavenant, Foodservice Director in the NPD group,commented “Millennials are now in age to work and therefore have the capacity to spend. They have grown with technology which is part of their day to day life; one might say that they cannot live without their mobile device and with technology.Overall, they redefine priorities and expectations in the foodservice market and push the industry to constantly increase the quality of the experience that it delivers. These high expectations may help the Out of Home market survive in the possibly difficult times to come following Brexit."
