Rent, Booze, Occasional Eggplant: A Look at How Millennials Use Venmo

September 30, 2016 by
Rent, Booze, Occasional Eggplant: A Look at How Millennials Use Venmo

Millennials have some unusual priorities, as viewed through the lens of baby boomers or even Gen X types.

Yet some of these ring as true today as they did when boomers and Xers were that age. LendEdu recently offered up some insight on what millennials were using Venmo for, as indicated by the various emoji that come with transactions on the app.

LendEdu looked at 500,000 public Venmo payments and discovered certain themes that emerged in the emojis. The most frequently-used emojis were “pizza slice” and “flying stack of cash,” suggesting that point-to-point payments and food payments were among the top of the ranks.

Emojis related to alcohol—beer, wine, even champagne—represented four of the top 10 slots and accounted for about a third of all activity the mobile site offered.

Food and booze aren’t the only options, however; rent and utility payments came in, and three of the top 30 were car-related. Indeed, as the headline noted, “eggplant” came in unexpectedly often, especially at 5:00 am, 7:00 am, and 9:00 am, making one wonder what’s going on in the early morning hours that requires eggplant.

Some reports, however, suggest that the actual meaning of eggplant is much more prurient than some may expect, and does not in fact suggest that millennials are looking for a rich supply of folic acid first thing in the morning.

Unusual meanings of vegetables aside, this study shows us clearly how millennials are focusing on Venmo, particularly around food and booze. Those restaurants, therefore, that cater to millennials may want to start taking Venmo to serve as a competitive differentiator among competitors.

Those who don’t may find themselves losing business to those who do, and that could be a serious problem. It’s also worth noting that Venmo has clearly come a long way from the days when people were concerned about its security; using it for rent and utilities likely means users confident that data will be protected.

Still, knowing is half the battle, as the old G.I. Joe cartoons used to assert, and here, we now have a better understanding of what millennials are doing with a mobile payment program. Food, alcohol, basic payments and some downright scandalous matters are all on the table. Knowing this can open up a lot of new opportunity for businesses focused on millennials.

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