5 Industries Millennials Are Changing

Whether you love them or hate them, you need to come to terms with the fact that millennials are the future. Currently, we are the largest participators in the labor-force, comprising ⅓ of all US workers, thus changing industries from within. However, perhaps more importantly, millennials possess incredible purchasing power at $200 billion dollars annually and heavily influence both older and younger generations’ buying habits.

For these reasons, industries need to be able to understand millennials and adapt their products and services to appeal to our generation in order to continue to make profitable sales.

Here are five industries millennials are changing.

Automotive Industry

A report published by the Frontier Group says that fewer young people are obtaining drivers licenses than ever before. According to the report, millennials prefer alternative modes of transportation like walking, biking, or using car shares like Zipcar in urban areas. Because of a collective understanding of climate change, many millennials intentionally try to use these alternative modes of transportation, opening new opportunities for business.

Car sales have been left relatively unaffected, while new industries for transportation have been created. According to Business Insider, Uber is projected to earn $10 billion dollars at the end of 2015, showing the lucrative potential in adapting to the millennial sensibility.

TV/Movie Entertainment

We all remember what happened to Blockbuster. New platforms and advances in technology-specifically with online streaming video-have changed the way that cable giants look at television programming. Traditional cable TV has seen a steady decline in subscription since 2012. Pacific Crest estimated that the top eight cable providers saw subscriptions fall 463,000 in the second quarter of 2015.

While cable subscriptions are declining, online streaming services are seeing a boom. Netflix has seen an incredible increase in its new subscribers, nearly doubling the amount of household subscriptions since 2011 from 18% to 35%. Streaming services are the way of the future and old cable giants are having to adapt their regular programming to appeal to an increasingly educated consumer.

Retail

There are conflicting theories about whether millennials are affecting retail in a negative way. Common belief would lead many to think that the transition to online shopping means the death of retail. According to a recent report by Accenture, this is merely a myth. While online buying has increased, it does not mean millennials are only shopping online. MIllennials still like to go to the store to look and touch the product before they purchase it. What is more important is seamless integration from online to the physical store. 68% of all Millennials demand an integrated, seamless experience, meaning they can go online to read about a product and then go to a store to buy it.

On the other side of things, traditional retailers are having problems. Stores like JC Penney and Dicks Sporting Goods have seen a marked decline in stock shares over the last couple of years, pointing to a decline in the appeal of large department stores.

Housing

Home-ownership has seen a steady decline after a slight boom in 2005. Homeownership now has hit historic lows at 63.5% which is the lowest it’s been in four decades. This has an effect on both housing and construction.

This trend can be blamed on the low percent of homeownership for millennials after the recession, combined with the desire for many millennials to live in urban areas and rent instead of being locked into a long-term mortgage.

Food

Millennials like to eat healthier and are more educated about food than ever before. Companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola have seen a decline in stock sales because of a greater consciousness around healthy eating and the fight against childhood obesity. Many junk-food companies are now having to adapt their products in order to be more conscious of millennials’ healthier buying habits. According to a recent Nielsen Global Health survey, 35% of millennials would pay more money to buy healthier food.

In order for these industries to continue to exist, they must adapt to the new buying patterns of millennials. Instead of looking at these industries as dying, companies need to re-evaluate the way they are producing and marketing their products and services. By capturing the purchasing habits of millennials, businesses can evolve with the market instead of dying.