As retailers line up to court Australian consumers with Christmas bargains, there are signs the Millennial shopper might be the toughest nut to crack.That trend is now making retailers nervous. Prams and baby goods seller Baby Bunting’s boss Mark Teperson last week pointed out that the company’s core consumer base – young parents – have started tightening their belts.
Young families are under some of the toughest financial pressure – though economists say that isn’t unusual in these conditions.“With fixed term mortgages written in the last few years now rolling off into variable loan rates, this group is experiencing higher housing costs.”on big-ticket items such as car seats and prams, and the company revealed in a trading update on Tuesday that its sales are down by 3.3 per cent in the year-to-date to October 8.
“Specifically for youth customer cohort, rising costs in rent and student loan debt which is linked to CPI compounded the more broadly experienced general cost of living rises, such as food, petrol and utilities,” the chief executive of youth retailer Universal Store, Alice Barbery, told investors when the company unveiled its full-year financial results earlier this year.Analysis of the cost of living crisis by Commbank earlier this year also points to younger consumers feeling the heat more.