Survey shows generational expectations for same-day delivery, mobile wallets

Dive Brief:

Consumers of different generations have varying expectations for the latest developments in retail, including mobile shopping, payments, and same-day delivery. Millennials (ages 18-34), for example, are more likely (64%) to base a purchase on the availability of same-day delivery, compared with just 40% of baby boomers (ages 50-69) or 56% of Gen Xers (ages 35-49).
That shifts a bit with the extra burdens of parenting, apparently, with 63% of parents influenced by the option of same-day delivery, compared to 46% of nonparents. Similarly, 33% of parents find that making purchases with a mobile wallet is important, compared to just 17% of nonparents.
Yet 72 % of millennials say they prefer shopping in a store, compared to 65% percent of Gen Xers and 68% percent of boomers. And 73% of millennials enjoy being in a store or mall, compared to 58% of Gen Xers and just 48% percent of baby boomers. Meanwhile, a third (33%) of millennials say that making purchases with a mobile wallet is important to them, compared to only 21% of the total survey population, which was 2,000 U.S. adults.

Dive Insight:

Some of these results can no doubt be explained, at least in part, to the comfort level with technology and innovation that any younger generation may have compared to their elders. And the savvy polling of “parents vs. nonparents” shows how much same-day delivery (and perhaps mobile commerce, too) can ease the hectic pace of life that is made more nutty once children arrive.

In fact, in many ways, same-day delivery is a more convenient form of the in-store purchase, and not so much a hurrying-up of the week-long, two-day, or even overnight package shipping that we’re used to from online orders, says Rob Howard, CEO of Grand Junction Inc., a business-to-business delivery platform that connects large retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada with local, established delivery services to offer same-day deliveries of retail purchases.

Certainly, then, if retailers find that same-day delivery is a sustainable fulfillment method, millennials will likely only grow more attracted to, if not outright dependent on it, as their lives get more hectic as they continue to age.

“It’s the next logistical step in the supply chain,” Howard told Retail Dive in an interview earlier this year.