Hispanic Millennials the next Gold Mine

In other words, this group has disposable income.

We’ve been talking recently about the Hispanic market and the need for retailers to make this customer base a priority.  Now, we can get even more specific thanks to significant data suggesting that Hispanic millennials in particular are the next goldmine for retailers.

Here’s some recent data that supports this theory. According to a September 2013 study by PNC Bank, young Hispanics between the ages of 20 and 29 carry about $10,000 less debt than other Millennials. The average Hispanic twenty-something owes $18,000, versus $27,800 for their peers. Hispanics in this age group are also more likely (45%) to be saving on rent by living with their parents than their counterparts (39%), as well as being more likely than not to know their credit score (57%).

In other words, this group has disposable income.

In addition, according to Nielson, the Hispanic Millennial shops less in store, but spends more. Hispanic Millennials’ spend an average of $2 less per shopping transaction than white Americans in their age range…however, annually, they spend more on retail purchases —almost 10% more.

Finally, this group are heavy smartphone users, which means retailers can use this to push smartphone sales. According to eMarketer data for 2013, over 75% of Hispanics use the web on their phones, compared with 73% of African-Americans and 60% of whites. Furthermore, Nielsen research shows that young Hispanics own more smartphones than any other Millennial group. They use apps more, they shop via their phones more and — in a boon for advertisers — they watch around an hour more mobile video per month than other demographic.

Retailers that take note of this data can tap into a new and potentially lucrative group.