A new study by yconic provides insight into Canadian Millennials, including how they spend their money. Called ‘The Millennial Shopper: More Social and Educated than Ever Before‘, the study describes the Millennial shopping process and how research, social media and experiences are key. 

The study describes Millennials as seeking ‘rich experiences’ that may include luxurious shopping, food and travel. Although many Millennials have debt, they are also earning money and spending it rather than saving it. A considerable number of Millennials also still live with their parents, providing discretionary income. 

The study says that Millennials (aged 19 to 34) make up about 30%, or 9.5 million Canadians. Their income is estimated at a whopping $237 billion, being about 21% of all income earned in Canada. Millennial spending grew substantially between 2009 and 2011 — spending on luxury fashion increasing by 33%, travel spending increased 74%, and fine dining spending increased by 102%. Those numbers are remarkable, given the short time period. 

Millennials now spend more than previous generations, according to the study. They’re also the first generation to have grown up through the information age, which is reflected in their shopping habits. The study describes Millennials as generally being brand loyal, though it notes considerable effort is required to gain and maintain that loyalty. Exceptional quality, price and authentic, positive brand experiences are therefore key. 

The study goes on to describe how Millennials learn about new products. Friends, family and advertising still play key roles, though the study notes that social media is now a very important component to increasing brand awareness among Canadian Millennials. 

The study goes into depth, discussing the steps Millennials take when purchasing, including discovery, pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase behaviour. The study then goes into detail about how technology and research influence decision making.

The study concludes with advice and other information on how brands can capture the Millennial dollar, and how to keep customers loyal post-purchase. The study has considerable detail not discussed above, and the full PDF can be downloaded here.  

About yconic: 

yconic operates Canada’s largest student help platform and youth-focused market research panel. yconic helps brands and agencies better understand and build meaningful connections with youth by offering Market Research and Insights, Digital Marketing and Talent Solutions. For more information, visit we.are.yconic.com.

Online footwear retailer Shoes.com plans to open stores nationally, complimenting its booming online business. We spoke with company Vice President of Brand and Retail, Geoff Henshaw, who explained why the pure play online retailer decided to move into physical stores, and why its locations will be unique and customizable.

Shoes.com was founded in 1996 and now carries over 500 designer brands, boasting annual online sales in excess of $300 million. The company is now headquartered in Vancouver, after being bought last year by Coastal Contacts founder, Roger Hardy. The company also recently bought a popular sock brand called Richer, Poorer to compliment its footwear business. 

Shoes.com’s first location opened last month on Toronto’s trendy Queen Street West. The boutique was originally intended to be a temporary pop-up, but the company has since decided that physical stores are part of its long-term game plan. Mr. Henshaw explained how only 3% of all footwear purchases are made online and if a retailer does brick-and-mortar in a ‘purposeful way’, there’s room to gain market share. The Queen Street store will revert to a long-term lease in March of 2016. 

Mr. Henshaw says that the retailer decided to open physical stores to connect with customers face-to-face, and that the company is looking to grow through omni-channel. Owner Roger Hardy used a similar strategy when his online retailer Coastal Contacts opened brick-and-mortar stores in Canada in the spring of 2013, and within the first year these stores saw sales in excess of $2,000 per square foot. 

Mr. Henshaw says that in 2016, Shoes.com will look to open physical stores in all major Canadian markets. Targeted cities include Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and others. Although its first physical store is on a retail high street in Toronto, Shoes.com will consider opening in mall locations as well, particularly given Canada’s weather. Shoes.com Stores will ideally be in the 2,000 square foot range, he said – about twice the size of the existing Queen Street store.

The Toronto Queen Street store is unique in how its interior is customizable. Photos in this article show the store featuring a ‘forest’ backdrop. Mr. Henshaw explained that backdrops are easily customizable and interchangeable and that this backdrop may soon change to reflect January’s push to promote Canadian brands. Every six weeks, the store will see a new theme. Product is also customizable, and individual Shoes.com stores may curate brands and styles to cater to local markets, as well as for various promotions.

In some respects, Shoes.com’s brick-and-mortar expansion is an experiment, and the company will continue to evaluate its operations. It’s testing two-hour home delivery in Toronto and if it proves popular, new store locations might require less backroom storage space. Once there’s proof that its stores are a winning concept, Shoes.com will look to roll them out not only in Canada, but in the United States as well. Mr. Henshaw revealed that an American store expansion is in the works for the second half of 2016. 

This is the second part to last week’s list of retailers opening and expanding in Canada. We’re seeing remarkable growth in both new retailers entering the country as well as those expanding existing operations, despite reports of a softening economy. The list below is by no means comprehensive, and many of those listed below have not been revealed to the general public until now. 

The following list of 35 retailers that are either entering the Canadian market, or are expanding their operations, is sponsored by Vancouver-based Peregrine, which custom designs and fabricates retail, display, furniture and architectural features for some of the country’s top retailers.

Our next Peregrine-sponsored List of Retailers Opening and Expanding in Canada will be published early next month. We’ll also discuss what new retailers entered Canada in 2015. 

In early 2016, the University of Alberta School of Retailing’s Department of Applied Research will release a study revealing and discussing new brands confirmed to be entering Canada. We’ll   discuss the study once released. The research department is also available for hire, for companies/entities looking to conduct retail industry research.