With more than 2.5 billion online shoppers from all corners of the world, the demographics of digital consumers are wide and varied. As an ecommerce owner, it’s important to understand what your target audience enjoys to be able to cater your digital marketing strategy to their preferences.

Recent millennial online shopping statistics show that this demographic makes up 30% of the digital shopping population. But what do millennials buy online?

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Millennial online shopping statistics: What do millennials buy online?

According to the latest millennial online shopping statistics, the top products that this group of consumers (defined by the study as those currently aged 25 to 40) purchase over the internet are related to clothing and shoes. More than half (59%) of millennials surveyed say they acquire these products online. Incidentally, fashion is the biggest online shopping category worldwide in 2023, with total revenue expected to hit $990 billion.

This is followed by entertainment products, which 44% of millennials say they buy online. Items in the beauty and electronics categories follow, purchased online by 43% and 42% of millennials, respectively. 

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These popular categories should come as no surprise, given that the consumer electronics market is expected to hit $666 billion in 2023. The global beauty industry market is also growing and is forecast to hit $571.1 billion in 2023. If you’re thinking about starting an online business in this sector, it may interest you to know that personal care tops the list of the most popular beauty products consumers purchase. 

Children’s products and items related to leisure, sport, and hobby round out the top six shopping categories for millennials—39% of them say they buy these products online. Groceries follow, with just over one-third (36%)of millennials saying they purchase these items online. 

Here are the other top products millennials shop online for and the percentage of millennials who do so:

  1. Pharmaceutical products: 32%
  2. Automobile parts or accessories: 29%
  3. Home and garden: 29%
  4. Jewelry and accessories: 28%

As these millennial online shopping statistics show, ecommerce is extremely popular among this demographic. Experts say this is because having grown up in a digital world, millennials tend to be very tech savvy. This is certainly evident when comparing their online shopping behavior to that of baby boomers. For instance, an analysis of baby boomer spending habits shows that much fewer of them shop online, independent of the product category. 

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