Half of Millennial Mums have made an m-commerce purchase in the past week, finds BabyCentre study
Half of ‘millennial mums’ – mothers aged 18-34 – have made a purchase via their smartphone within the past seven days according to new research from online parenting website, BabyCente.
The study, which looked into the digital behaviours of 2,000 UK mums, also found that one in three mothers find mobile payments are more convenient than cash or cards. This is 39 per cent higher than Generation X mums (those aged 33-44).
“A millennial mum will never be far away from her mobile phone,” explained Mike Fogarty, SVP and global publisher at BabyCentre. “It’s her back up brain, digital handbag and virtual assistant – a Mum’s mobile is the ultimate ‘do everything device’.”
Helping mums to do this are apps, but millennial mums are 45 per cent more likely than GenX to say apps make them more productive and organised.
When asked what apps they used, the most popular choices for respondents were Facebook, BabyCentre, WhatsApp, Amazon and eBay. Gaming apps, banking apps, BBC News, Instagram and Candy Crush also featured in the top 10.
Overall, the report found that millennial mums, who make up 75 per cent of new mums, spend an average of 8.1 hours a day consuming digital media.
This is almost an hour more a day than GenX Mums – with most of that extra time spent streaming video or going online via a mobile device.
Social networks have also put pressure on millennial mums, with the study finding that “the pressure to be an ‘alpha mummy’ has rocketed since they all signed up to Facebook.”
When it comes to engaging with brands on social, 83 per cent of mums have liked or followed brands on Facebook, and 44 per cent have made a purchase because they saw someone in their network following the brand.
But they are also likely to be influenced by other mums. 59 per cent have bought a product following recommendations on parenting sites, and mums report finding posts from other mums to be 55 per cent more influential than brand posts.