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Millennials Love Their Smart Phones

By
Education & Training with Rowlett Real Estate School

We recently updated our online website and made it mobile freindy.  The Millennials are the main ones using their smart phones and tablets to access the web.  Rowlett Real Estate School's online mobile website is up and running and ready.

 

Who are the Millennials?

Millennials are persons that are 18 to 34 years of age, and this population is expected to number 75.3 million this year.

 

Check out this article by Lisa Kiplinger, from USA Today

Millenials Love their smart phones: Deal with it.

You've seen them shuffling down the street, eyes glued to 4-inch screens, fingers tip-tapping away. To say that young people are in love with their smartphones would be an understatement: It's more like they're obsessed, confirms a new study out by Zogby Analytics.

Almost 90% of Millennials say their phones never leave their sides. The first thing that 80% of Millennials do every morning is reach for their smartphones, and 78% spend more than two hours a day texting, surfing, talking, tweeting and — more importantly for businesses — shopping, banking and more.

"Businesses will ignore this at their peril," says James DeBello, CEO of Mitek, the company behind mobile bank deposits that commissioned the independent study, "Millennials, Selfies and the Changing Face of Mobile Commerce."

Companies that don't speak mobile "are missing the boat," he says, because young consumers are expecting it, even demanding it. "If you don't have it, you're considered old-fashioned, out of date and not a company I want to do business with."

SURVEY: Full results of the study

The study, which surveyed 1,019 people ages 18-34, found that what many Millennials love best about their smartphones is the camera. Almost 90% snap shots daily or weekly, and not just "selfies." Say, they're out and about and see a shirt or a stereo they like, DeBello says. They might grab a shot and send it to friends to see what they think — call it shopping by crowdsourcing.

They're also depositing checks via photo and getting car insurance quotes by shooting a pic of their driver's license and sending it off. No need to slog through manually entering name, address, yada yada yada. Millennials love the ease and speed of using their smartphone camera as tool to get things done.

"I think the overall trend we discovered is they still wish they could do more, in fact, they expect it. And they want to do it faster and easier," DeBello says.

What Millennials are saying about mobile:

• 81% say it's important for retailers to have high-quality mobile apps

• 47% access businesses via mobile at least once a day

• 58% have tried to enroll for a new service or account on mobile

• 36% have made a decision on where to spend money or switched companies based on what they let them accomplish on mobile

For consumers of all generations what this means is that they can expect to see a crop of new, more sophisticated apps on the way. If Millennials had their way, they'd be able to pay bills by snapping a photo of them (45%), enroll for everything from credit cards to gym memberships using a photo of their driver's license (33%) and take some pain out of tax time by inputting W-2's by photo (33%).

Companies such as Progressive Insurance, Bank of America and Apple are at the forefront of the trend, DeBello says, but that's only the start. And the mobile trend is being driven by Millennials ... perhaps the very dawdlers in front of you on the sidewalk with their faces in their smartphones.

Millennials by the numbers:

• 87% say their phone never leaves their side

• 88% have or would deposit a check by snapping a picture

• 60% say in the next five years everything will be done on mobile devices

• 54% would pay using a mobile wallet

• 86% say there are still a lot of websites without good mobile functionality

• 14% wouldn't do business with a company that doesn't have a mobile site or app

 

Posted by

Captain Wayne Rowlett GSI
Rowlett Real Estate School

Comments (34)

Captain Wayne - Rowlett Real Estate School
Rowlett Real Estate School - Panama City, FL
Rowlett Real Estate School / Owner and Instructor

Thank you all for stopping by my post!  Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

May 23, 2015 11:43 PM
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

Well considering that just about everyone is looking down and into their cell phones all the time and wherever they go, that is where you will find them now a days

May 23, 2015 11:51 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Capt Wayne  - were it not for my birth certificate and grey hairs I would be a Millennial 

May 24, 2015 12:57 AM
Sam Shueh
(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA
mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

smart phone= pc, laptop, leadrouter, eMail, flashlight(flash), digital camera, video, gps, accepting order on the fly. My wife also tracks me like a judicial court...

May 24, 2015 02:02 AM
John Novak
Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate

75.3 million is a market segment that's too big to ignore, and mobile technology will only continue to grow over the years. In a way we have to go small to go big!

May 24, 2015 02:24 AM
Dinah Stallworth-Lewis
Priority Real Estate LLC - 318.332.8281 - Natchitoches, LA
NATCHITOCHES, LA HOMES FOR SALE

Captain,

Since most  home searches start online, smart phones are a key part of this trend.  Having a mini computer ( smart phone) at your finger tips is a great thing.   And I agree, mobile websites are very important for capturing this business.  Great blog.

May 24, 2015 11:23 AM
Christine Donovan
Donovan Blatt Realty - Costa Mesa, CA
Broker/Attorney 714-319-9751 DRE01267479 - Costa M

Wayne - Based on attachment to phone, I would say that a large percentage of Realtors could be milennials 

May 24, 2015 02:38 PM
Frank Castaldini
Compass - San Francisco, CA
Realtor - Homes for Sale in San Francisco

Everyone love their smartphones...which is why the San Francisco real estate market is strong and will be for some time to come.  Think Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, Yahoo, etc...now where are their headquarters?

May 24, 2015 11:29 PM
David Barr
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty - Sarasota, FL

60% dont have a credit card but we're told they want to buy real estate?  

May 26, 2015 02:51 AM
Ron Aguilar
Gateway Mortgage Group - Saint George, UT
Mortgage & Real Estate Advisor since 1995

I often observe Millenials stare at their phones for several minutes without a break. This gives you an idea of how to market to this demographic going forward.

May 26, 2015 02:59 AM
Doyle Davison
Hawaiian Beaches Hawaii - 714-968-6767 - Huntington Beach, CA
30 years as your Concierge services listing broker

I hate having a phone on me and don't like cell phones personally.

Technology in our industry has forced them on all of us.. millennials are addicted to cell phones. they cant even drive without one in their hand. really are you missing something that important. Nope.

May 26, 2015 03:19 AM
Gene Riemenschneider
Home Point Real Estate - Brentwood, CA
Turning Houses into Homes

You cannot ignore the mobile apps.  They want information right a way.  When they call (or more often text) you better respond fast.

May 26, 2015 03:36 AM
Keith Whited
RE/MAX Gateway - Alexandria, VA

I would like my smart phone a lot more if it wasn't always so quick to let me know that it is so much smarter than me.

May 26, 2015 04:08 AM
Rob Arnold
Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL
Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F

We made sure our websites were ready for Mobilegeddon last month.  Even so, I am surprised that only about 25% of our web traffic is from mobile devices.  Eventually they will all just be interchangeable anyway. 

May 26, 2015 04:35 AM
Laura Moore
Coldwell Banker - Granite Bay, CA
Competent ~ Caring ~ Committed

The % of millennial credit card holders was the most suprising stat for me!

May 26, 2015 04:51 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Kinda sad to think of what they're missing while their eyes are glued to the screen. 

May 26, 2015 05:16 AM
Captain Wayne - Rowlett Real Estate School
Rowlett Real Estate School - Panama City, FL
Rowlett Real Estate School / Owner and Instructor

I agree with pretty much all of you on this. Times are changing, I guess we need to keep up.

May 26, 2015 07:30 AM
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

Yup the cameras on the smart phones just keep getting better and better. I use mine for listing photos and sellers are always happy with the results.

May 27, 2015 11:32 AM
Kull Realty Group
Wellington, FL
Your local experts

Couldn't go without my smartphone!

May 30, 2015 02:38 AM
Kimo Jarrett
Cyber Properties - Huntington Beach, CA
Pro Lifestyle Solutions

Almost everybody uses a smart phone, so it's not just the millenials. The smart phones are helping educate consumers with invaluable and useful information but only if the information is accurate and factual. 

May 30, 2015 06:46 PM