How present grocery companies will be successful with Millennials in the future

Two momentous realities are taking shape with respect to the millennial generation, realities which will profoundly impact how successful grocery companies offer their products and services in the future. More importantly for successful grocery companies of the present, if they do not recognize what these demographic changes mean to their business, they will not be successful in the future.

The first momentous reality is that in 2016 millennials finally overtook the baby boomers as the largest generation in both Canada and the United States. In addition to being the most populous, because they are coming of age they are also gaining in purchasing power, this being the second momentous reality. As more millennial aged adults tie the knot and start families, their purchasing power is increasingly being felt in the grocery store. The challenge for the successful grocery company of the present is the largest and soon to be most powerful generation, shops entirely differently than the customers that catapulted these companies to the top of the heap. These successful companies must find the delicate balance between catering to the customers of today, while increasingly catering to the customers of tomorrow. Not an easy task to put it mildly. It starts with understanding how to cater to the customers responsible for tomorrow’s success.

The grocery shopping habits of the millennial generation can be summed up in three points. They shop in packs, they are gluttons for digital information and they enjoy exotic foods that they themselves have prepared. By knowing these shopping traits, successful grocery companies can begin to craft the grocery experience that will cater to millennials. The operative word here is experience.

Millennials like to shop in groups because they view grocery shopping as a social event and like other social events, this generation wants there to be some element of fun. Since they also like to consume mass quantities of digital information, products that will perform best will include some form of smart phone accessible info or signage with digital recognition capabilities. The more social media friendly, the more this information will be consumed and the more fun the shopping experience will be for the newly crowned kings and queens of consumerism. No shopping trip is complete without purchasing the most beloved products, in this case this means simple to prepare gourmet foods.  If Gen X’ers ushered in the prepared meals era, the millennials are taking us to the simple to prepare meals kits era. Companies like Chef’s Plate in Canada and Blue Apron in the US are catching fire and if successful grocery companies of the future do not want to lose out they will need to offer products that fill this need.

Whole Foods is taking this group of shoppers seriously by opening a Brazilian restaurant right inside one of its Atlanta grocery stores. This is important because they are taking the shopping experience to the next level, just where the millennial generation wants to go. Prepared food in a grocery setting is old hat, but a sit-down service restaurant is something new. It appeals to the social event atmosphere and provides more of a gourmet meal experience, albeit in a restaurant.  But being a grocery company it would not surprise me if the menu was somehow tied back to products that can be purchased in the store.

Does this necessarily mean that Whole Foods can be counted on to be a successful grocery company of the future?  Not necessarily, but they are taking steps to add elements that their new customers will want. So, successful grocery companies of the present take note. Successful grocery companies of the future will need to offer a highly social, digital, experiential service and offer an assortment heavy on simple to prepare, complete meal kits. Use this information accordingly.