A New Wave Of Clothing Consumption

More and more young people in the United States are buying clothes. The most important thing is to make themselves look different.

"I do not want to blindly follow the business mix, do not want to wear only one brand, but do not want to be static."

Alice, a 19 year old sophomore, said.

Of course Alice is not alone.

Recent surveys have found that the so-called millennial generation in the United States, which refers to about 80 million Americans born between 1977 and 2000, has penetrated into consumption habits.

According to a survey by Pugh Research Center, compared with their parents, the millennial generation tends to abandon political inclination and religion as personal labels.

Boston consulting and other surveys show that the millennial generation is specific to a particular company.

Loyalty is lower than that of the previous generation, and they are more willing to shape their own style.

For businesses, the pursuit of personalization has become an important part of the entire sales process.

De Logo

The clothing industry is the most obvious industry affected by this trend of "seeking self".

Businesses are thinking about how to redesign every aspect of product sales.

H&M and Urban Outfitters and other famous clothing retailers seem to have adapted to the trend, but others such as A&F are somewhat slow.

Accenture said the market value of the millennial consumption drive is currently $600 billion and will grow to $1 trillion and 400 billion in 2020.

Among them, the clothing consumption of the millennial generation is two times higher than that of the other population. The millennial generation of women has more 1/3 clothing consumption than their predecessors.

A&F finally took the first step.

Just last month, the company decided to reduce the size of the Logo on the clothes.

Previously, the obvious A&F mark of the chest has always been the most classic design of the brand.

But times have changed.

"A few years ago, all the girls wore A&F and Hollister T-shirts, but now my friends don't wear them very much."

A student said, "Logo is acceptable, if they are not so obvious."

In the last quarter, A&F suffered tenth consecutive quarterly sales decline.

In addition to Logo, A&F has begun to increase the category of women's clothing products to attract more female customers aged 16 and ~22. The biggest feature of these female customers is the dislike of crash shirts.

A&F spokesman said: "no one is willing to be a walking billboard now."

Reshaping shopping mode

Other companies are also starting to try to adapt strategies to these elusive millennial consumers.

Gap's latest commercials are directed by David Finch and repeatedly emphasize the pursuit of true self.

American Campus

Brand Aeropostale has also sought out fashion bloggers to advertise "reliable, emotional and relevant".

These clothing companies are complying with the most popular concept of "Normcore" nowadays, which is to reduce their brand identification while keeping their clothes in a comfortable and unqualified state, that is, the spirit of "Dress normal" in Gap advertising films.

In addition to the retail industry, department store owners are trying to adapt to this new trend.

Indianapolis based Simon Real Estate Company is now working with fashion magazines to attract millennial consumers to large stores with more videos and personalized recommendations.

This is a difficult period for the retail industry.

According to the US Department of commerce data, there was no growth in retail sales in August, and household expenditure fell by 0.1% in July.

In the whole August, from WAL-MART to Messi, department stores lowered their forecasts for future performance.

The rise of the Internet and mobile communications has also enabled the millennial generation to acquire more shopping information channels.

More than 70% of 18~34 years old people do homework on the Internet before they go to the store.

So they are more knowledgeable than the previous generation of consumers.

The millennial generation also spent more money online than previous generations.

But about 75% of the total spending will go to the physical stores.

In order to keep these consumers' hearts, businesses are far from enough just to decorate their splendid fitting rooms. They also need attractive websites, simple payment processes, and more exciting shopping experiences.

Millennial generation and all previous people spend money differently.

Obviously, they prefer early adopters, adventures and companies that look reliable and easy to communicate.

This gave birth to some new spoiler.

For example, in the traditional catering industry, the tastes and preferences of the millennial consumers are breaking the original restaurant mode, so that the leisure restaurants like Chipotle and Panera have begun to rise in a crazy way in the past few years.

In a survey conducted in 2013, Boston consulting company estimated that the millennial generation would spend more money on fresh fruits, organic foods and nutritious food.

Luxury goods, carbonated drinks, handbags and so on are relatively unpopular.

One of the millennials' disliked industries is the traditional big banks.

A survey of more than 10 thousand millennials shows that the less popular brands include bank of America, Citibank and so on.

This creates opportunities for community banks that attract more and more millennials with more advanced technology, social media, mobile banking, and intimate customer service.

At the same time, the millennials also have unique problems to face, such as more unstable jobs and high unemployment.

In July 2014, the unemployment rate of the millennial generation between 20~24 reached 10%.