Who knows Millennials better than Teen Vogue? Not many! According to the publishing expert, it seems the mobile phone is clearly how this demographic communicates, informs and (especially) shops for herself. In an effort to provide the market with the latest data on Millennials—namely their insights, habits and motivations with their mobile phones—Teen Vogue took a deep dive into the subject and conducted The Teen Vogue It Girl Insights Mobile Behavior Report. Responses to the survey, which were fielded by Vision Critical, supports how now, more than ever, marketers need to be where this savvy consumer is: on a mobile web platform. As revealed by the report, mobile represents far more than just text messaging, with one respondent saying that losing her phone would be like “losing an arm: unbearable and catastrophic.” Mobile, it seems, is a device this girl is really connected to, using it as a tool to access all content against web, print etc.

Among the most revealing facts from the It Girl online survey, which was based on answers to 35 questions from 1,500 female respondents aged 13-29 between Dec. 29, 2011 and Jan. 6, is that 91% use a mobile phone when shopping.

“Shopping is a perfect example of her digital involvement,” said Jason Wagenheim, publisher of Teen Vogue. “A few years ago shopping was purely a brick-and-mortar, localized experience involving her and her friends gathering at the mall. For the Teen Vogue girl, shopping is now a social networking experience where she uses any and all digital assets to shop, share, research best offers and more.”

Other top insights include how integral their phone, mainly their smartphone, is to their life: more than half of Teen Vogue respondents (64%) said they own a smartphone, up 68% versus 18 months ago. By 2015, smartphones will account for 60% of all mobile handsets in the U.S. and will be the main way Internet users access the web—more than their PC! Specific to Teen Vogue readers, 66% said they access the Internet from their phones two or more times a week, while more than half said they access their mobile web daily.

As for apps, they’re clearly the way Teen Vogue girls enjoy accessing sites, according to the survey, with 74% saying apps “make their lives easier,” and half using apps daily. But free is key: 65% use (nearly) only free apps. What apps are they using? Gaming and social apps are the most popular, with 89% of Teen Vogue readers saying they prefer Facebook, 69% YouTube, 60% Twitter, 48% Tumblr, 29% Google+ and 26% Instagram.

In regard to QR codes, the It Girl survey delivered hard facts on what Teen Vogue readers want from them. For starters, QR code activity among them is exploding with 42% having scanned a QR code, up 133% vs. 18 months ago! Most (78%) want coupons or discount offers, 74% want prize giveaways, 66% want beauty how-tos, 61% want fashion look-books and 59% want access to fashion DIYs.

Not surprisingly, Teen Vogue readers aren’t afraid to use their smartphone to make purchases. About 30% said they’ve made a mobile purchase, with 68% saying they spent less than $50 on their first mobile transaction, and 23% saying they spent between $50 and $100. What are they buying? Clothing was the most popular purchase by 57% of readers, followed by 37% who said they bought accessories and beauty products, while 30% said they bought shoes.

So, where are they shopping? The most popular purchase destination was Amazon, the top-ranked site shopped by Teen Vogue readers at 40%, followed by Forever 21 at 35%, Sephora at 28%, eBay at 27% and Target at 26%.

Overall, it’s clear that smartphones are the wave of the future, with sales continuing to exceed all other types of computing devices combined, including tablets. And Millennials are the safe bet to be some of the best consumers of them. Their appreciation for mobile web access was the impetus behind the creation of the Teen Vogue Insider app, which makes Teen Vogue a “smart magazine” meaning when users hover over mobile activated pages, they have access to bonus content and incentives.

For more information, please contact Jessica Sibley, Teen Vogue Associate Publisher, Advertising at [email protected].