Millennial customers do not favour malls: YouGov

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Oct 10, 2018

According to the YouGov-Mint Millennial Survey, India’s millennials are more likely to shop online and less likely to frequent malls, making the latter’s future uncertain.

The latest Mint and YouGov survey on shopping in India found that the country’s millennials and Gen Z population are more likely to shop online for products such as clothing and electronics than in malls. This was found to be the case for all income groups in the age bracket. Amongst millennials and Gen Z shoppers, those who are employed or housewives were found to visit malls the most, however, even in this category, most preferred to shop online.

Reasons for preferring online shopping included personalised recommendations, ease, and discounts. The potential for on-the-go shopping that e-commerce stores provide is well-received by young professionals. The most frequently bought items online were found to be electronics and clothing with more men buying electronics and more women buying clothing and fashion accessories.

India’s millennials and Gen Z shoppers were found to visit malls less and, when they do, spend less time there. Many malls have already re-branded themselves as “recreational centres” in order to fight this. The rise of online shopping in India explains why many malls are struggling despite the growing consumer market in India, Asia’s third largest economy.

The survey was carried out by Mint and the Indian arm of YouGov, a global market survey firm and surveyed 5,000 millennials and Gen Z-ers. The survey defines “millennials” as people born between 1981 and 1996 or those aged 22 to 37 years in 2018. Those born after 1996 are referred to as “post-millennials” or “Gen Z”. According to the UN Population Division, the Gen Z population already exceeds millennials in India. The shopping habits of the two age groups will lead the way for Indian retail and could make or break malls.