Is There Enough Millenial Mindshare In Merchandising

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

An RSR analyst expresses concern that merchandising emphasis is skewed too heavily toward Generation X.

A Q&A With Matt Pillar & Paula Rosenblum I Managing Partner, Retail Systems Research

One of the latest reports produced by Retail Systems Research (RSR), Merchandising 2017: The Real And The Unreal, points out that Millennials (ages 16-35) have surpassed Baby Boomers (ages 56-65) as the largest portion of the U.S. population (25 percent). Yet, the report also points out the potentially problematic fact that retailers are fixated on catering to a very different, rarely mentioned group: Generation X, (ages 36-55). In fact, the survey of 108 merchants found that 48 percent of them identify Generation X as the one that best represents their core consumer.