Nu-wave shoppers – or Gen Z as they are becoming known – are starting to make millennials look old and they are wanting yet another new way to shop.
Gen Z’s 18-24 year olds want an immediate and ‘do it themselves’ approach to in-store, focusing less on entertainment and browsing and more on quick, succinct, real-time, seamless, mobile experiences, according to a YouGov poll.
Experiential events (16%), Beacon tech (15%) and a face-to-face personalised customer service (22%) in-store are among the ‘media myths’ the report revealed were less important to Gen Z compared to other features such as free samples (36%) and e-receipts (31%).
Instead, 59% would want a dedicated checkout for click and collect, nearly half (48%) of Gen Z’s are frustrated with poor mobile phone signal in-store, and 45% want free wi-fi in store to retrieve their order confirmation.
A further 55% voted contactless payments to be the most valued in-store tech; closely followed by 38% self-stock check points as a way for retailers to encourage loyalty
Most tellingly, Gen Z’s want real-time stock visibility, as 86% said that their biggest frustration is when an item is marked ‘in-stock’ on a retailer’s website, but is not available when they go to find it in-store.
This is more important than retailers offering ’experiences’ as an incentive for signing up to loyalty schemes, with 75% saying discounts and promotions would encourage them to sign up most.
