The Definitive Guide to Gen Z Shopping
Meet Gen Z
Diverse, creative, tech savvy, and the economic future- this digital generation holds the power to an e-commerce world.
Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is made up of teenagers and young adults. With unique spending habits and a whopping $143 billion in spending power, every business should be sure to get to know Generation Z.
Children of the Internet
Unlike generations past, Gen Z grew up in a fully-digital world. They came of age with their childhood documented online. They know how to use social media and they know when they’re being marketed to. They didn’t grow up with advertisements on T.V., they grew up with phones in their hands seeing brands tweet about being depressed.
Passionate about climate change and other social issues, Generation Z want to know their purchases are ethical. Seeing business show support for the causes they care about is crucial for including them in your customer-base.
Thrifty Above All Else
While their Gen X parents have high brand loyalty, Gen Z has very little. Instead, their primary purchase motivator is price.
Unlike previous generations, Gen Z will turn to wherever they find the best deal on what they want. In an IBM study, only 36% of Gen Z said they had a strong connection to a brand.
How to Appeal to the iGeneration
While Generation X, sometimes called the Forgotten Generation, has a reputation for being hard to reach, Generation Z can be surprisingly difficult to market to.
Here are the top three things you can do to appeal to Gen Z:
Relate.
Gen Z has much higher engagement with risky and aggressive brand tweets, a trend popularized by the Wendy’s twitter account.
They prefer the feeling of a real person behind “the man” rather than a ‘safe’ cookie-cutter social media strategy. Relatable and somewhat edgy social media posts can easily go viral if done right.
Partner with an influencer.
While Gen Z doesn’t have high brand loyalty, they do have loyalty to the people they follow. YouTuber brand merch is a multi-million-dollar industry popularized almost exclusively by Gen Z. An influencer’s followers are invested in their suggestions and opinions and more than willing to give their partnerships a chance.
Try Live Shopping.
Live streaming is an extremely popular form of shopping and entertainment. Live shopping is expected to become a $6 billion market this year and its impact will only grow.
Gen Z is already online. We know they enjoy watching their favorite creators eat, chat, play games and chill and we know that they consume an incredible amount of video entertainment. Twitch and YouTube streamers can hit millions of live viewers per stream.
Live shopping is exactly the type of e-commerce that Gen Z loves.
With a live influencer showing off products on stream, Gen Z gets the human aspect they appreciate combined with watching their favorite creators review products. They feel a connection to the person if not the brand and having someone they trust explain exactly why this purchase is right for them is an easy way to gain potential customers.
Want to appeal to Gen Z? Consider becoming a LiveShelf partner today. The next big thing is here and no one is more ready for it than Gen Z.
