Retail merchants targeting Millennials – consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 – may want to reconsider their approach, as a new report from WSL Strategic Retail suggests shoppers in this demographic are spending less.

Millennials, who are saddled with student-loan debt, struggle to find jobs and are pessimistic about the economy, are peeling back the amount of money they spend on retail. For brands that target this consumer base, such as Gap, this may result in lower-than-normal sales. Additionally, merchants that aim for slightly older shoppers may also be impacted as they won't have a new crop of customers to sell to.

"There is a notion among retailers that young shoppers are more resilient and will come back sooner," WSL chief executive officer Wendy Liebmann said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg. "The reality is that they don't have money to spend, and retailers aren't paying enough attention to this."

Approximately one-quarter of Millennials don't have the money to cover basic living necessities, such as rent, car payments and food, let alone the latest iPad or the hottest fall fashions.

With that in mind, retail merchants need to consider refocusing their marketing dollars to reach consumers that do have the income to drive sales.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, March 15th, 2012 at 8:58 am .