Death of Club 18-30: How Changing Millennial Tastes Are Affecting Businesses

As the millennial generation grows, so do the demands they place on businesses. This is having a major impact on the business world. Failure to adapt to millennials’ demands can often mean the death of many corporations.

What went wrong with Club 18-30?

Founded in the 1960’s, Club 18-30 was set up to provide package holidays. These were aimed at single young people with no children. Popular holiday destinations for Club 18-30 included Ibiza, Magaluf and Corfu. For years the company enjoyed a fun and playful image. At their peak, annual sales topped £48 million pounds. Fast forward to now and sales have dropped dramatically.

Recently, it was announced that the well-known Club 18-30 is in trouble. Thomas Cook who is the parent company said it was “exploring options”. This has led many to believe that Club 18-30 may be put up for sale. This news follows declining sales and years of negative press. One common belief is that the brand is simply ‘past its sell-by date’. Simon Calder said, “While Club 18-30 is easily the most-recognised brand in this sector, it is a tired and tarnished brand – people who went on its first holidays in the 1970s are now in their 70s!”

How Millennial habits affect businesses:

Social media

Thomas Cook also blamed ‘ego-travel’ for the fall in sales. For non-millennials, ‘ego travel’ means travel that boosts one’s social media. Fueled by social sites like Instagram, ‘ego travel’ is killing the ‘sun, sea, and sand holiday’. Instead, millennials are choosing experience holidays. Popular experience holidays include seeing the Northern Lights and scuba diving.

Another term thrown around is ‘Insta-worthy’ places. Meaning places that are Instagram-worthy. Being Instagram-worthy is a huge stamp of approval from the millennial generation. This is because of the importance of peer approval. In previous generations, reviews were the be-all and end-all for brands. Now, likes, shares, and comments are how a business should rate itself. Especially if they hope to appeal to the younger market.

Spending

Millennials often receive a lot of flak for their spending habits; they are mostly seen as frivolous and self-indulgent. This opinion is mainly supported by the older generation, many of whom do not appreciate modern conveniences. One of these modern conveniences is of course online shopping. Generating billions each year, online shopping is targeted at millennials. Several large companies like ASOS, BOOHOO and ETSY’s entire business model revolves around them. Despite this abundance of spending opportunities, millennials are pretty money-savvy. This is evident, by the number of secure online payment methods available. Growing up in the digital age, young people are risk-smart with their money. This means safety is a top priority. Apps and services must then offer the latest security software.

Another payment trend set by millennials is variety. Before making any payment, millennials will often check methods available. Why? Younger generations have been conditioned to seek out choices. There is no longer just one acceptable way to do things, especially when it comes to payment methods. This can be clearly seen with the decline of cash payments being made. Millennials are smart with saving their money and making sure it is being sent securely over the Internet.

Convenience

Almost every purchasing decision made is based on the ‘convenience factor’. Similar to choice, millennials are used to things being more convenient. Businesses are well aware of this and are heavily focusing online. Online shopping and banking are popular examples. Even everyday tasks like grocery shopping have undergone huge changes. This is all to meet the new demands of the younger generation.

One of the biggest changes seen is the online move. Nicknamed ‘virtual food shopping’, customers can now buy their food solely online. This means no queues at checkout and less forgotten items. Most importantly, it saves time, something which millennials do not to spend freely.

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