Considering The Next Generation Of Consumers

By Erin Harris, Editor-In-Chief, Cell & Gene
Follow Me On Twitter @ErinHarris_1

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, there are 80 million plus Millennials (the largest cohort size in history). Millennials are never far away from their next text, with 80% sleeping with their mobile phone next to the bed. We’ve written quite a bit about what it means to cater to the Millennial shopper. We’ve covered their buying preferences, the commitment to high ethical standards, as well as their affinity for a seamless omni-channel shopping experience. But a recent conversation reminded me that retailers need to keep thinking forward about not only today’s shopper but also tomorrow’s.

My 5 year old son will enter kindergarten this fall. Countless things excite him about this next phase, but he’s very excited (and adamant) about purchasing a dinosaur backpack. His need for a dinosaur backpack doesn’t surprise me, but how he asked me for it does.  

So, when he asked me to help him “look online for a dinosaur backpack,” I nearly stopped in my tracks. He’s 5, and he asked me to help him look online for a backpack. The words rolled off his tongue easily, because in reality, he understands the concept. My husband does not like to shop, but when he does, he almost exclusively completes his transactions from his laptop or his smartphone. Somewhere along the line, my son has observed and absorbed my husband’s shopping behavior.  Certainly my son’s shopped with us at countless retailers’ brick-and-mortar locations over the years — he’s been to our local Target enough that he could probably help the staff stock the shelves. But based on his own experiences, he wants to begin the process online.

Watch out retailers. You thought Millennials were digital natives. Say hello to Generation Z.

Sure, Generation Z, born from 2000 on, aren’t holding down jobs and making purchasing decisions yet. Retailers are still catering to the people holding Gen Z’s purse strings — their parents and care givers. But, it’s 2015, and some of Generation Z will soon be entering the work force holding down weekend and after school jobs. They may shop your brand, and some day, they will be schooling the Millennials (and the rest of us) on how to navigate the shopping experience.

As such, the time for retailers to open their minds to change — incremental changes that involve pragmatic innovative technologies and processes — is now. Doing so will improve the customer experience and, in turn, may boost profits. Further, making sensible technology decisions now caters not only to current shoppers but also those who will make purchasing decisions in the near future. While it’s the retailer’s job to intimately understand their customers, partnering with solutions providers that appreciate innovation allows even the most risk-averse retailers to address today’s challenges and create new and better experiences for the shoppers of tomorrow. Knowing you can turn to vendor partners for realistic innovative ways to deliver a seamless omni-channel shopping experience through technology will ease your burden. Retail may be constantly evolving, but the need to deliver a pleasant, effective customer experience will never change.

We go long on how retailers can cost effectively address their challenges and adapt their business models to meet the needs of the savvy, any-channel consumer — regardless of generation. As for the backpack purchase, as long as it has a dinosaur, he’ll be happy; as long as the experience goes smoothly, I’ll be happy.