HONG KONG — Millennials in Asia-Pacific shop online an average of 4.7 days a month compared to just three days in bricks-and-mortar shopping centers, a survey from CBRE released Thursday said.
But despite their more frequent internet shopping, e-commerce still accounts for just a slim portion of their discretionary spending: about a quarter of Millennials’ non-food purchases. On the whole, young Asian consumers prefer being able to experience goods firsthand and collect their purchases in physical stores, the survey concluded.
Conducted last December, CBRE surveyed 5,000 people between the ages of 22 and 29 in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Australia.
“Millennials represent the fastest source of spending power regionally,” said Henry Chin, Head of Research at CBRE Asia-Pacific.
Respondents said they visited bricks-and-mortar shopping centers for many other reasons other than to buy things, including dining out, doing banking and bonding with family and friends. Around a third chose “shopping is a leisure activity” as a top reason to explain why they don’t buy online more, while 23 percent said that they shopped as a way to spend time with loved ones.
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Chin recommended: “In addition to increasing F&B, cinema and entertainment elements in their shopping malls, retail landlords should consider organizing more live events to attract Millennials. But they should also carefully manage their tenant mix to ensure they still cater to other generations.”
Asian Millennials save more than their peers around the globe because two-thirds of them live at home. On average, savings were about 18 percent of their income, compared to 11 percent in Europe and North America.
They spend more on leisure activities like eating out, sports and non-food shopping compared to other regions because of lower living costs in Asia. Chinese Millennials’ basic living expenses were 28.3 percent of their overall income, the lowest of all the places surveyed.