This year, I turned 30 years old. I’m not ashamed to say it, either. I am 30. To a lot of people, it’s a major milestone; to others, it’s a scary turning point in your life. You already know the clichés; they don’t seem to change.
To me, 30 is just another number, just another birthday. I’ve never put a lot of stock in birthdays, even the major ones.
But it apparently is an important number, because it places me in a certain generation. That’s right: I am a millennial. You know the group, the one the media paints as the lazy, self-centered generation who expects handouts, has a wrong sense of entitlement and will leave the world in waste. And to be a part of this generation? How disgraceful.
The realization started a while back. When presenting to a customer, I was using the typical millennial clichés as it applies to retail design—about their disconnection from the world and their preference to be on Facebook instead of talking with anyone, all while sitting in a drive-thru lane. After my soapbox speech was over, there was a long pause. My customer then asked for the year I was born. Hesitantly, yet proudly, I responded with 1986. All of a sudden, I heard laughter. Then my customer boomed with, “You are a millennial!” Another pause, then: “Now tell us, what do you want?”
That sure caught me off guard! What do I want? What do I want? I am a retail designer who learned from the best; that question shouldn’t stump me. After jesting for so long about millennials, to suddenly be one, all I could do was laugh, cry and scoff at the realization. However, it led to a moment of clarity: I shouldn’t be talking so apathetically about my own generation.
Great retail design isn’t apathetic, but instead cares about consumers, pays attention to their wants and creates an experience that will have people coming back for more.
Innovation should occur from design to implementation and doors opening. I shouldn’t focus on the bad of any one generation but look for ways to bridge the gap between the generations.
Beyond the Clichés
So what do I want? Here is what I told my customer that day:
- Most important, I worry about a safe place for my family to shop. Every time my family ventures out into the world, I want to know that where they go is safe.
- A clean and bright store that is inviting and easy to shop.
- Kick-ass restrooms that are big and bright, and have the same amenities for dads as they do on the moms’ side. I have to change diapers, too!
- We need a drive-thru, and not just for food—for everything. I don’t want a drive-thru to check Facebook; I want a drive-thru because it takes an act of God to get my son in and out of his car seat.
- Local products aren’t a cliché; local is an important keyword.
- Fresh food, but fast. Chipotle is one of my favorite restaurants. It has delicious food with no hidden messages. They are honest about their mistakes and fix their issues.
- A store that offers more than one way to shop. Delivery services (Amazon Prime Now or Amazon Fresh) are services I get excited about. With a 3-year-old active boy and another child on the way, I don’t want to drag them into a store for a two-minute pit stop when I can have cleaning supplies delivered straight to my door. Call it lazy, but I get an extra hour of Lego play instead of waiting in line.
After listing and discussing my wants, it hit me that what this generation really wants is what you should be doing already.
Your store should be an experience, not just another convenience store. It should pull me in, away from services such as Amazon, and make it convenient for me to use.
In the words of Ms. Frizzle from “The Magic School Bus,” “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy.” Without trying, how will you ever get better? Without mistakes, how will you learn?
Good retail is not set in stone; there is no retail bible that provides all the answers. It should evolve on a daily basis and learn from customers. Without evolving with the times and embracing all generations, how do you expect to maintain business for the foreseeable future? I’m not here to tell you what to do. Instead, I’d like to offer a few last words of advice, straight from a millennial: Pay attention, be honest and stay true to yourself.
And give us good bathrooms.
Jason McDonald is a technical designer for Paragon Solutions, Fort Worth, Texas. Reach him at jmcdonald@paragon4design.com.
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