Gen X and Baby Boomers, while traditionally less associated with digital commerce than younger cohorts, represent a significant portion of online shoppers in the US. With economic improvements such as easing inflation and robust wage growth, these generations are increasingly engaging with online retail, highlighting the need for brands to deliver seamless and supportive digital experiences. It’s noteworthy that 62% of Gen X and 36% of Baby Boomers have made over half of their purchases online in the past year. The reliance and frequent use of mobile devices among these generations in the shopping experience underscores the importance of mobile optimization. Additionally, companies must recognize the key factors influencing their purchasing decisions, such as shipping costs, product price and quality.
Gen X & Baby Boomers represent a sizeable component of online shoppers. When targeting these groups, brands must provide a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.
Vince DiGirolamo, Director, North America Reports
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Mintel is the world’s leading market intelligence agency. We show you how consumers think today and tomorrow. As a trusted partner to industry leaders, we deliver game-changing insights to businesses across the globe, fuelling their marketing and innovation strategies that will shape the future.
Access high-quality market research with every purchase of Mintel’s consumer reports. Here’s what else is included in your report purchase:
From consumer reports to customised growth strategies. We have an option to suit your business requirements.
Find out more£ 5,000 – £ 21,600
Mintel’s 2024-25 Global Outlook on Sustainability: A Consumer Study is designed to help you understand what brands and companies should prioritise in order to educate consumers and ensure...
Find out more£ 3,695
eCommerce will continue to be a driving component of the retail industry. Although the frequency of online shopping has decreased somewhat from 2022, 4 in 10 consumers are...
Find out more£ 3,695
The fulfillment and returns space is undergoing significant transformation as retailers strive for logistical efficiencies to meet and exceed consumer expectations. An example of such, is the increased...
Find out more£ 3,695
The incidence for online shopping is near total (96%), but more impressive is the frequency and voracity with which it occurs. In fact, 46% of consumers made more...
Find out more£ 3,695
Social commerce is a key aspect of the ecommerce ecosystem. Its impact will only grow as time spent on mobile devices increases and younger generations expand. Katie Hansen,...
Find out more£ 3,695
Over a third (37%) of consumers plan to increase their online grocery shopping use within the next year. Younger consumers will be the primary drivers of this increase...
Find out more
Working in a customer-obsessed organization means that data and insights have to be at our fingertips. Mintel’s reports help us support anecdotes with real quantifiable insights. The summary sections (which I really like) helps save time by giving a birds eye view of the content before spending time combing through the pages.
Our business review discussions are strengthened by the relevancy of the reports to help us better understand our customers. In addition, the customer service received from the team (especially in crunch periods) makes the process of understanding customer behavior even better.
At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.
There is no question that Mintel is the go-to resource for the best quality market research, but I did not think it was an affordable option for Abacus Marketing to consider. As a small marketing agency, we only work with a few new clients each year.
However, we have a very high-end consultative approach to our work, so we really do need a partner like Mintel to provide the big agency experience we are always aiming to deliver. Our clients come from an incredibly diverse range of industry sectors, so we obviously need access to market research reports from a very wide spectrum of marketplaces – and that is precisely what we got.
We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.
As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.
We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
From consumer reports to customised growth strategies. We have an option to suit your business requirements.
Find out more
