Tapping U.S. Hispanic Shoppers’ Affinity for Technology and Physical Retail cites ICSC data and outside studies in demonstrating the importance of this demographic segment to the future of the retail real estate industry.

In 2017 Hispanics had the highest social network penetration rate (62.7 percent) of any ethnic group in the U.S. and more shopping apps on their smartphones than non-Hispanics in general. In a twist, though, while Hispanics spend nearly six times as many hours shopping online as non-Hispanics, not much of this involves pure-play e-tailers. Only one in five Hispanic Millennials shops on Amazon.com, for example, versus two out of five non-Hispanic Millennials.

In general, Hispanic Millennials shop at several major department stores more than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Specifically, they are 26 percent more likely to shop at JCPenney and Nordstrom and 21 percent more likely to shop at Macy’s than non-Hispanic Millennials. They also outspend non-Hispanic Millennials by nearly 10 percent at Penney.

U.S. Hispanics are also big users of technology when it comes to brick-and-mortar shopping, with 82 percent saying they have used click-and-collect, versus 71 percent of non-Hispanics, and 18 percent saying they do so frequently, versus 11 percent of non-Hispanics.

All of this points to an opportunity for retailers and retail landlords to use technology to market directly to this ethnic group, which has grown substantially in size and in terms of income. The U.S. Hispanic population grew from 10 million in the 1970s to 58 million by 2016, so that they now represent nearly 18 percent of the population. This purchasing power is forecast to reach $1.8 trillion by 2021.