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If you're still prepping your sales, marketing and product strategies to adapt to the wants and needs of Millennials... put down the avocado toast: you're already behind the curve.
Just when companies are beginning to understand Millennials, there's a new generation on the block exceeding their buying power.
The New Buyer on the Block
Introducing Generation Z: the single most important demographic to marketers around the globe at this very moment.
Although you may think of this demographic as a bunch of kids, recent studies show that Gen Z has a spending power of $143 billion. And more than that, they represent 40% of global consumers in 2020. That’s huge.
So how can retailers tap into this heavy-hitting market?
Here are a few ways:
1. Know Your Audience
Gen Z is best defined as those who were born in 1996 or later. And while Millennials grew up on the cusp of the digital age, Gen Zers were born into it and know nothing else.
According to Retail Small Business, there are 5 core characteristics of the Gen Z shopper. Knowing these characteristics will give you a base for understanding retail’s most powerful new customer.
- They have high expectations. Gen Z expects an experience when they walk into a store and shop online, and if they're not met with one - they walk.
- They're not patient. Gen Zers rarely give stores second chances, and they usually will share bad experiences on social media.
- They're less price conscious. Gen Z are willing to pay as long as the experience delivers. They're not as price conscious as previous generations.
- They get distracted. Jumping from one device to another, from app to app, Gen Z can easily get distracted and are more difficult to guide through a sales funnel.
- They're influencers. Studies have shown that 70% of parents turn to their Gen Z kids for help making a buying decision. Now that's buying power.
2. Have a Digital Strategy
Even though Gen Z values retail brick and mortar stores more than their Millennial counterparts, technology is still an important facet of the buying journey.
Sure, the Gen Z demo will still visit brick and mortar locations, but it’s the digital journey before and after that takes place that can catalyze present and future sales.
If your store or brand doesn’t have a clear cut digital strategy (and a presence on social media) it’s time to put one in place. Retail stores like Anthropologie and others have done this in a number of ways, even going so far as to plaster hashtags on mirrors to encourage their shoppers to take pics and share their outfits on social. Once technology and social media is a part of your retail experience it makes it that much more alluring to the Gen Z crowd.
3. Connect to a Cause
Generation Z are hungry for a cause that connects their purchase to something they feel strongly about. Whether it’s the environment, animals, social justice, or all of the above: Generation Z is more likely to pick up on brands and stores that intertwine some kind of philanthropic mission into their products and purchases.
Statistics reported by Forbes show that approximately 67% of Gen Z and Millennials want the brands they buy to have a cause or social orientated voice. So start packing your shelves with products that support a mission or cause and keep this in mind for future endeavors and community events at your retail space.
Now What?
By now you’ve learned a few simple ways to engage the Gen Z generation. You’ve learned that they’re a digital first crowd that also values experiences and real, live shopping at brick and mortar stores. You’ve learned that Gen Zers want to see some social consciousness in the brands and stores they frequent and that it’s hard to keep their attention with all the stimuli on their devices and in their lives. So now what?
Keep Your Retail Point of Sale Current
You can adapt your retail experience to cater to the Gen Z generation with a few simple tweaks, but you can’t do that without the power of a nimble and scalable retail POS system on your side.
Contact us today for a free demo. Find out how simple and affordable it is to switch to a retail point of sale system that’s future-focused and ready to help you reach the overwhelming buying power of the Gen Z demographic.
