Consumer Preferences: Millennial Buyers: Retailers are increasingly adapting to Millennials’ needs – Aug/Sept 2025

Faced with financial challenges due to student loan debt, the rising cost of living and housing costs, and an erratic job market, Millennials are a resourceful group accustomed to doing more with less. In the context of flooring purchases, that means they are buyers who come to the store prepared, who take advantage of financing that allows them access to “better” options, and who want service-both from RSAs and digital tools-that makes their buying process simpler and swifter. 

Motivated despite barriers

The Millennial generation spans 15 years, meaning some members are looking toward owning or in a first home while others are cashing in equity on a first home to buy their second. Regardless of where they are in the home journey, Millennials are often rolling up their sleeves to make whatever house they can afford into something that they are proud of. That being said, while they are willing to put in the sweat equity, what they ultimately desire is ease. Busy with careers and kids, they don’t want the care of their home or flooring to be a cumbersome endeavor. 

“I deeply respect the Millennial generation,” says Fred Black, vice president of operations for North Carolina-based USA Flooring and a Gen Xer. “Regardless of barriers of affordability, we see them turn neglected properties into amazing homes. They are very resourceful and value experiences over material items. When they do something, they do it well. They are helping improve home values for other generations by acquiring homes in need of serious repairs and making them beautiful.” Black estimates that around 60% of the customers visiting USA Flooring’s showrooms are Millennials. The business also employs quite a few Millennials.

One important thing to know up front about the Millennial consumer is that they come prepared. “Most Millennials will use the internet and social media to educate themselves about purchases before seeing them in-person or visiting a showroom,” explains Millennial Haley Bruhn, design consultant with Sterling Carpet One in Grand Forks, North Dakota. “They start the shopping process fairly well informed of how materials differ and what options might be the best for them.”

Very often, this online research often pushes Millennials in the direction of LVT, says Ashley Stich, Millennial and commercial manager with Sterling Carpet One. “The internet is flooded with luxury vinyl plank as being the best option out there, and that is where they tend to lean because of waterproof surfaces and durability,” she explains.

Service sells

Having done their research, Millennials often walk into the store with a good idea of what they want and desire service that makes the process simple from there on out. 

Asked what level of service his Millennial customers are seeking, Mike Husby, sales manager at Thornton Flooring in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and a Millennial, responds, “As high level as possible. They want treatment. The word you see throughout our company is ‘easy’-a high level of service, great communication and they want to trust you. Flooring is a big purchase, so expectations of consumers are high.” 

He points to the impact that Amazon has had on consumer expectations: an order is placed with a click, and there is transparency throughout the entire transaction-down to the details of reporting the delivery driver’s name and current location. “That pushes consumers to have the expectation of a streamlined process with 100% transparency,” Husby says. “They don’t understand a production date on carpet. They’ll ask, ‘Why are you displaying it if it’s not available?’”

Interaction

Because Millennials will be the primary customers for flooring for the next 20 to 30 years, Black believes it is imperative to both understand and target them, as investment in those relationships now will pay off for decades.

Much of that interaction is built around online tools. 

• Online ratings offer a quick way for consumers to vet service and credibility. Good online ratings are the first step in getting the Millennial consumer toward a purchase from a particular establishment. Once they have vetted a company online, they will move into the next step of exploring the company’s website. “Five-star ratings give us credibility and drive Millennials to our website,” says Black.

• Online advertising is the main way in which today’s retailers are reaching potential customers. At this point, Thornton Flooring has virtually ceased TV and radio advertising in favor of online tools like search engine optimization, geofencing and keywords. “If a consumer is searching for flooring in Sioux Falls, we want to be right there on first page. If you aren’t, you will be passed by,” says Husby.

• Online content is a key differentiator. USA Flooring creates content to share the story of both the business and the products that it sells. “We spend a lot of time telling the story of USA Flooring,” Black explains. “We illustrate that through organic content about our diverse workforce, company culture and community engagement.” The company also includes organic video content, for instance, short videos of staff having fun in the showroom. On the product side, USA Flooring’s outreach isn’t necessarily focused on technical aspects of the products, but rather on what the product can do for the consumer and why they should care about that. Black concludes, “If a retailer’s website isn’t compatible to mobile phones, they will lose.”

• Live chat offers the opportunity for consumers to communicate directly with a retailer with zero pressure or commitment. Furthermore, it’s personalized and generally quick compared to other communication methods. Say Black, “Our form fills are way down because Millennial customers prefer live chat.”

• Visualizer tools offer a couple of key attributes that Millennials seek-the ability to visualize and to customize. USA Flooring features Roomvo kiosks in its showroom, enabling consumers to explore alone or with the help of staff. In addition, web-based visualizer tools that enable consumers to explore from the comfort of their couches are beneficial. “In June, we had 983 sessions on our visualizer tool,” says Black. “Of those 983 sessions, 535 were on a mobile phone, and 448 were on a desktop. In total, consumers viewed over 7,600 products on the visualizer tool. The top categories were resilient/vinyl followed by laminate.” Interestingly, Black believes that a good number of these users explored the visualizer before they set foot in the retail store, so having these tools online-not only in the retail showroom-is helping to educate consumers and drive them toward particular retailers. 

Thornton Flooring is also a big believer in the power of a visualizer. “We digitally incorporate as much as possible in-store. We are going as far as QR coding every sample, so that the consumer can take it home and have QR code with them to use it for room scenes at home,” says Husby. “Roomvo is king right now, and it is an amazing tool.”

Financing

Financing is an important option for Millennial consumers, who often start adult life with the debt of student loans hanging over them. This debt makes it hard to save money, so financing becomes the logical path toward home improvement.

“The Millennial generation is much more apt to finance, and financing opportunities offer Millennials more buying power,” says Husby. This buying power enables larger tickets and the purchase of better-end goods. 

“Financing is crucial to help the flooring industry capture a larger share of the home improvement pie,” says Black. “When you compare flooring to other segments, our industry is a little behind with offering financing. At USA Flooring, we put heavy emphasis on discussion of financing often and early. A lot of Millennials have moderate credit scores but generally qualify. By focusing on credit, our business has been increasing.” 

One strategy that USA Flooring uses in its sales process is focusing on the monthly payment for a material or project rather than the total cost. 

Curated, not cookie cutter

By all accounts, Millennials aren’t seeking to recreate their childhood homes but to style their spaces uniquely.  

The beige carpets and orange oak that they grew up on? “No thanks,” says USA Flooring district manager and Millennial Emily Winfrey. “We want our homes to feel curated, not cookie cutter.”

Bruhn shares that sentiment. “This generation is looking to be different that our parents and grandparents,” she says. “Millennial shoppers are looking to make investments into their homes that don’t commit them to any particular style or design. They want quality items at the best price point that gives them flexibility to make changes over time. Our childhood homes were full of color and decor that was thematic (think apples, roosters, chubby chefs, Paris, etc.). Chip and Joanna Gaines have a huge influence on Millennials, and farmhouse chic took off around the time that we started having enough money to decorate our own homes-think white subway tile and greige walls.”

That said, Husby notes, “A lot of Millennials think of flooring almost like paint-disposable. Many are thinking, ‘I’m not planning to stay here that long’ instead of ‘I want something that will last forever.’ Personal tastes change, and they want to keep up with what’s out there. My parents had the same carpet in their basement for 40 years. That doesn’t happen anymore.”

As far as other influences, Bruhn points out that “Pinterest, TikTok and Instagram are huge places for inspiration. This generation grew up with cable TV, before streaming services started, so HGTV was a big part of our upbringing with shows like House Hunters, Love It or List It and Property Brothers. This is also what inspired this generation to have (sometimes false) confidence that DIY is the way to go!” 

Stich also points to Pinterest as the tool most Millennials bring in as inspiration material at the start of their shopping process. 

And Thornton Flooring will sometimes start the design process by asking Millennial consumers, “What have you been looking at on Pinterest?”

Easy does it

Husby believes that ease of cleanability is a top concern for Millennials. “This is the easy button generation. My wife and I are both Millennials, and we built a home four years ago. I’m a flooring snob, so I wanted hardwood in the basement. My wife hates the fact that I put in hardwood. She says, ‘It’s pretty, but it’s a pain in the butt to clean.’ We have four boys, and she thinks hardwood demands too much concern about what’s happening atop the floor.”

He notes that generations past took pride in, for instance, precise vacuum lines in their carpet, which were essentially symbols of the effort they took in caring for their home. However, “Millennials want to focus their time and effort on what they want, not keeping their flooring up,” says Husby.

And what their internet research indicates as the easiest flooring option is LVT. “The internet is flooded with luxury vinyl plank as being the best option out there, and that is where they tend to lean because of waterproof surfaces and durability,” says Stich.

Green or green?

Millennials want sustainable options, but without extra capital to invest, they seek options that are comparatively priced. 

In Black’s view, this offers insight into the types of promotion that are effective for this buyer group. USA Flooring is piggybacking on Mohawk’s installation of SolidTech R PVC-free resilient flooring at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, Georgia with its own partnership with The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Surf City, North Carolina. 

“With this partnership, we are telling a good story to Millennials about sustainability,” explains Black. “Generation X is typically the generation leading the industry in executive-level positions right now, and our generation’s legacy is to leave the industry in a better position that we found it. Millennials care about sustainability, and Generation X’s responsibility to make those products affordable for them. They will buy green as long as it’s affordable; they don’t have the luxury of spending more.”

Husby hears lots of chatter about Millennials’ concerns about sustainability but doesn’t see it play out in decision making. “I think that might come with the next generation,” he says. He estimates that 30% to 40% of Thornton Flooring visitors are Millennials.