Wireless Dealers Can Snag 40% of Millennials Upgrading Smartwatches

BY Courtney Huckabay

Four in 10 millennials replace their wearable every six months to a year, based on a new global study. The study is based on a survey of 2,800 millennials across seven markets (U.S., U.K., Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong and Malaysia) conducted by LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

25% of millennials replace their wearable within a year in the United States.

"Millennials in the U.S. seem to hold onto their wearable for somewhat longer, with more than a third (36%) changing them every two years and 39% longer than two years," Chuck Martin reported for IoT Daily.

"Interestingly, it’s not necessarily because the devices break."

The most recent AudienceSCAN study found 5.4% of Americans intend to buy smartwatches within the next 12 months, and 32.2% of them are aged 25–34.

"Overall, more than half (55%) of millennials get a new wearable simply because they want one with 43% moving to a replacement because the one they had failed."

"U.S. millennials also tend to hang on to their smartphone a bit longer than their wearables, with 13% opting for a new phone every six months to a year, compared to their wearable replacement rate of 25%."

Retailers should know 16.1% of Smartwatch Shoppers think newspapers are the best source for comparing prices, according to the latest AudienceSCAN research.

"Globally, a third (33%) of millennials have a wearable device, with 31% of those in the U.S. owning one."

"So in addition to the turnover rate of wearable devices, there’s still plenty of growth opportunity among those who have yet to try one. One of the barriers has been cost, especially in the smartwatch category."

The other key is that there’s plenty of space for marketing directly to consumers, since most (77%) of them look to their wearable as a personal device not typically used for any work-​related activities, according to the study.

Marketers should try reaching Smartwatch Shoppers with mobile smartphone app ads or text message ads, because the most recent AudienceSCAN survey reported 49% of them took action after receiving these messages in the past month.

"And that marketing likely will have to be continuous with the current turnover rate of the devices."

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.


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