Millennials don't care about owning anything, and it's destroying traditional retail

I still can't believe Dick didn't start this thread last week when the article came out, but the subject has been brought up in other threads, so I thought this was worth posting:

The tendency of millennials to rent instead of buy is turning the retail industry upside down.

"Battered by student loan debt and the Great Recession, Millennials place less emphasis on owning and more on sharing, bartering and trading to access coveted goods," Jilian Mincer of Reuters reports.

"These behaviors have propelled businesses such as car rental service Zipcar, taxi service Uber and home rental site Airbnb."

And the trend is extending into clothing.

Apparel retailers are threatened by rental startups like Rent the Runway and Bag Borrow or Steal, Grace Ehlers writes on industry website The Robin Report.

Renting has also spread to the music and hospitality industries with companies like Spotify and Airbnb, Ehlers writes.

"Never mind buying a second home when you can rent a chateau in France on Airbnb for $200. Why hire a chauffeur when they don’t come with an app that tracks their relative location to yours, like Uber?" she says. "Even owning the latest album of your favorite band feels a lot less appealing when you can stream it immediately on and offline with a Spotify pro membership, without taking up any space on your hard drive."

Rent the Runway has even started an unlimited subscription service for accessories and handbags.

Millennials are renting instead of buying - Business Insider

 

Just wait until more Boomers figure it's time to sell the house to fund their retirement years. Then the student debt crisis isn't the student's problem, it will become everyone's problem since housing prices will take a hit because potential homeowners won't be able to qualify for as big of a loan due to their student debt.

 

They all have two hobbies: Food and travel.

Four hobbies, actually.

Food. Travel. Talking about their food. Talking about their travels.

 

Yeah, you missed that one, Dick.

 

It doesn't bode well for the economy if people don't buy stuff they don't need then regularly replace it with newer, shinier stuff they don't need.

 

I guess I would consider that a subgroup of talking about it.

 

For the record, I completely endorse Instagramming food that one has prepared him or herself.

 

Do cocktails count as food?

 

Yep.

 

I was in a TV industry seminar the other day where a massive millenial survey was presented. Turns out they LOVE to pay for what they are watching, as long as there are zero ads. They really hate advertising in all forms.

And this was a very comprehensive study that should make marketers tremble.

 

Yes. Not having a consumption addiction is awful.