When developing customer loyalty programs, retailers know they can't take a one-size-fits-all approach to initiatives. They instead need to look at the different types of consumers who frequent their stores and websites, and one group that is getting more focus from merchants is millennials, or individuals born between 1980 and 2000.

Citing a study by Hanover Research, Business 2 Community reported that there are several millennial purchasing habits that brands will want to be aware of in order to tailor both their marketing and customer loyalty programs around this group's wants and needs. For instance, the source pointed out that more than half of millennials (52 percent) are more likely to make impulse purchases than non-millennials. In addition, 50 percent of the millennials surveyed by Hanover use either smartphones or tablets to research, compare and purchase retail items.

When it comes to repeatedly doing business with a brand, the source revealed that 78 percent of millennials are more likely to shop with a merchant that offers a loyalty program than with a company that doesn't have one.

To draw in this valuable consumer group, retailers can focus on developing mobile initiatives, such as point of sale solutions, that offer coupons and discounts for millennials based on past purchases in order to see the best results.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 at 10:16 am .