Macy's Three-Year Plan: How to Woo a Millennial

By Katie Little, Special to CNBC

NEW YORK (CNBC) -- Millennials are shelling out big bucks on their hunt for value and fashion-forward items, and retailers are noticing as they pounce on the opportunity to capture this burgeoning market.

On Wednesday, Macy's M(M) became the latest retailer to hone in on thespending potential of the Millennials, the country's largest and most diverse generation. The department store chain outlined its multi-year plan to grow and develop its business among shoppers between the ages of 13 and 30 years old.

This group is increasingly drawing the eye of retailers as the older Baby Boomer generation shifts its spending to necessary purchases and retirement savings at the expense of more discretionary items.

"We believe we have great opportunity to accelerate sales growth among customers in this generation," said Jeffrey Gennette, Macy's chief merchandising officer. "Doing so requires us to think from the customer's point of view about our assortments and store experience and to align our internal resources so we can move quickly and with focus."

Over the next three years, Macy's plans to implement the new initiative in its "mstylelab" section, which primarily serves customers 13 to 22 years old, and its "Impulse" department, which targets consumers 19 to 30 years old.

Although some of these brands will be familiar names for the store, Macy's plans to bring in new brands and lines to its accessories, beauty and home departments. To cater to this tech-savvy generation, Macy's will also refine its use of QR codes, tablets, texting, tap-and-go transaction processing and mobile offers.