Don't forget about Gen Z and In-Store Shoppers

Holidays 2021: Don’t forget about Gen Z and In-Store Shoppers

“Generation Z will soon become the most pivotal generation to the future of retail, and many will have huge spending power by 2026. To capture a piece of this growing cohort, retailers and brands need to start establishing relationships with Gen Zers now.”

Source: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/generation-z-facts/

Gen Z and why their purchases matter in the 2021 Holiday season

What are Gen Z’s? They were born in the mid 1990s to early 2010. Children of Gen X’ers.

This chart below explains why this generation prefers personalization as a big thing for this holiday season.

If providing this service for your products takes time, even more with potential delays, you might want to explain that or place urgency to buy now in your social media posts.

Gen Z and shopping tendencies

I was shocked to read this: “How do you prefer to shop during black Friday? Mix of both, 51% — Online only 38% — in-store only is just 11%. “The majority 33% start searching for deals a week before the big event”, so find ways to be top of mind. [Another fact] “63% of students get ideas of things to buy via social media” – Source: Student Beans

Trends still going strong include:

Shopping Earlier in the holiday season, I shared stats in my a recent blog post. Window Shopping in Stories. In-Store Tactics.

69% of people find Stories on Facebook and Instagram to be a great way to discover and become familiar with new products or services. 62% of people become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories. Source: Facebook (2018).

The top reason for shopping in-store during the holiday period include:

  • See products in person
  • Emotional benefits hard to reproduce online – 42% of US Holiday shoppers said they shopped in-store for the holiday ambiance
  • 27% of US Holiday shoppers said they shopped in-store to spend time with family

In Store Shopping, using Social Media to drive more customers in

Question for you: What can we do in our stores to make it more family friendly? I highly recommend doing similar to Bass Pro Shops with their kiddie crafts, pictures with Santa, etc to make me leave my fleece moo moo and brave the cold for a picture with Santa to later use on my Christmas Card.

I bet you are thinking, hold up Valentina, this is about social media right? Well you’ll want to promote your in-store events online with Facebook events, Instagram count down stickers, scheduled posts.

In fact, according to Forbes, “ More than 75% of shoppers will buy both in-store and online this year, up +25% vs. last year, and consistent with what we saw back in 2019. But with COVID-19 concerns, brands need to make sure consumers can shop safely. Stores have introduced new floor plans, updated rules, and tapped tools from the digital shopping experience.” 

This blog post was in response to my Holiday Edition Social Media Webinar that I did for the Knoxville (TN) TSBDC office and the other major takeaways can be found here: https://beyond-engagement.com/key-takeaways-to-promote-your-small-business-in-the-2021-holiday-season/

Email me at Valentina@beyond-engagement.com or if you have any issues with your social media marketing, please give me a call at 855.880.5082 and I’ll be glad to chat with you!

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