Exploring the nuances and values of this generation – the millennials, we seek to gain a better understanding of how they will shape the future of retail. Daymon Worldwide released its recent market research findings in a report titled, “The Next World: How Millennials Will Shape Retail.”

Conducted in April 2016, the global research project surveyed more than 7,000 Millennials and Generation Xers in five continents and 14 countries across the globe.

Daymon Worldwide’s millennial research assesses Millennials in three major areas: their attitudes and beliefs, their shopping missions and consumption behaviour, and their perception of brand and private labels.

“By the year 2030, there will be more Millennials than any other generation, including Baby Boomers, in the United States,” said Daymon Worldwide Vice President Vasco Brinca.

“We have never experienced a generation like this, in large part because they have grown up with economic uncertainty, high unemployment, and are always-on digitally. It is critically important to study this generation and their culture today to discover the impact they’ll have on the world’s future.”

Key findings from the research:

• Shopping Missions and Consumption Behavior

Millennials are found to be unstructured shoppers that shop frequently and for a long period of time. When shopping for groceries, Millennials shopping missions are for immediate needs compared to Gen X who shops in order to stock up for a few days.

• Brand and Private Brand Perception

Millennials are less loyal to and are disaffected by brands compared to Gen X. Twenty-nine percent of Millennials and 35 percent of Gen X say they “usually buy the same brand, but will try others on occasion” and 26 percent of Millennials say they are likely to “buy whatever brand they feel like at the time.”

The study also reveals impactful data around Millennials’ attitudes and beliefs, their online habits, parenting and family trends, work/life balance and health and wellness behaviors.

See: World’s Most Attractive Employers for Millennials in 2016

• Attitudes and Beliefs

• The Social Generation: Millennials are experience-driven and a generation that wants to share, they are the “worldwide sharing tribe” that spends on average 50 more minutes a day online than previous generations. With that being said however, 48 percent of those surveyed say that being with friends and family is how they want and wish to spend their free time.

Millennials are also spending their time participating in activities such as sports (33 percent), theatre/cinema (36 percent), nature watching and gardening (26 percent) and outdoor activities such as hunting/fishing (7 percent).

• Parenting and Family Trends: Forty-one percent of Millennials are parents and the average number of children per Millennial is 1.6. Similarly, 34 percent of Millennials without children want to start a family while only 14 percent of Gen X feel this way.

• Work/Life Balance: With 63.5 percent of respondents citing financial stability, it is by far the most important aspiration for both Millennials and Gen X around the world.

With that being said, 28 percent of Millennials cite starting a family as their most important aspiration and 18 percent say that becoming a business owner is most important, which ties directly back to Millennials seeking a personal and professional life balance.

Surprisingly, in Germany and France, Millennials are most likely to live alone (45 and 37 percent, respectively) however they also have the most desire of starting a family (15 and 28 percent, respectively).

• Health and Wellness: Millennials consider their body to be “the temple of me” and value both physical and emotional attributions such as being in good shape, feeling good about themselves and being cheerful.

Millennials share that they are more willing to follow a diet due to beliefs or social factors, as opposed to Gen X who are likely to start a diet due to a physical condition. Beliefs such as animal welfare concerns, religious/cultural concerns and family/friend recommendations are most likely to be followed by Millennials as well as lifestyle diets such as vegetarian, vegan, detoxes, and gluten free.

Also read: Stop Believing These 5 Myths about Millennials at Workplace