The market in the previous decade belonged mostly to Gen Y. Gen Y, also commonly known as the millennials, have forced the brands to change their strategy altogether in recent years. Just when the companies started to feel that they have it all figured out, Gen Z entered the picture and asked the market to rethink their approach once again.
The Reviews Matter!
A study showed that millennials trust the product reviews more than anything else. At least 80% of the millennial shoppers go through the online reviews of a product before buying it. Not just that, their decision also depends on the word-of-the-mouth recommendations.
However, that is not the case with zoomers aka Gen Z. Gen Z, although have spent less time in the market, have some sort of an in-built ability to identify paid reviews from the authentic ones.
This is one of the reasons why the newer generations are moving away from the entire “Trust the Reviews” process swiftly.
The Influencers’ Influence
Gen Z is moving away from the reviews, but what are they moving to now? The Influencers. A whopping 44% of the zoomers buy products that are advertised by their favorite social media influencers. The influencers are the new stars.
Big brands have also realized that in order to capture the attention of the new-age consumers, they need to work on their influencer marketing strategies. A 15-second Instagram reel or tik-tok video works as good for Gen Z as a TVC did for older generations. (Different generations, different attention spans)
Function VS Fashion
What do the two generations shop for? As far as the millennials are concerned, their contributions towards the market are relatively bigger. Millennials shop for everything, from everyday items to big purchases like furniture, large electrical appliances, vehicles, etc. Gen Z however is a relatively newer generation that mainly focuses on buying clothes and accessories, mobiles, gaming, and audio devices.
The difference between the type of products these two generations purchase shows the difference between their buying approach and spending habits. Gen Y monitors its spendings more closely. They also prefer to do more research around the products that take a bigger amount of money out of their pockets, whereas zoomers are more impulsive buyers.
The Social Effect
Both these generations are active on social media without fail. This has a rather significant impact on their shopping preferences. They both look for products that are the most talked about and trending on social media and want to at least try them once. The hype on social media directly influences the demand of a product.
The social effect is much more intense for millennials as they take opinions from their social circles before making their purchases, be it vehicles, laptops, phones, or other electronics devices. The younger generations are equally inclined towards a product that has a razzmatazz online if not more.
A Huge Credit goes to Credit
These two generations want what they want when they want it, and that is why they don’t want to be held back by any financial limitations. The credit comes into picture more often nowadays. Cardless EMIs, ‘Buy now, Pay later’ are some of the payment modes that need to thank Gen Y and Z for their emergence.
According to a survey, up to 30% of millennials would prefer to buy a product they like on credit rather than not having it at all or waiting for the prices to be slashed. Surprisingly though, the number of Gen Z that would do the same is comparatively lesser.
Pay On-the-go
Faster checkouts and faster payments are loved by all whether it’s Gen Y or Z. The millennials prefer card payments more than others whereas the newer generation prefers digital wallet payments and UPI payments more than any other mode of payment. Nevertheless, they both prefer the cashless way of payment.
Put the Pedal to the Metal
Enough talks on the differences between the two generations that are dominating the market. Let’s talk about what they both like. They like faster deliveries. 1-day deliveries, same-day deliveries are the new norms now. The moment these generations see a longer wait-time, they move to a different platform.
However there’s a slight difference between the two on the basis of how they prefer to receive the product. Gen Z doesn’t want any interaction with the delivery personnel. They prefer to track everything from their smartphones and prefer a no-contact delivery any day.
The two generations have very different styles of shopping, but they still have a lot of similarities. It doesn’t matter if you are a boomer or a zoomer, nothing beats the reliable touch-and-feel way of shopping. With recent developments in technology that is making room for new interactive styles of shopping, one feels that the old-school in-store shopping would not last for long. But it proves them wrong more often than not.
GoStor keeps the in-store electronics shopping alive with a beautiful tech-twist. It works on a phygital model that helps you do in-store as well as an interactive online shopping through the video call feature. You can visit the electronics store without having to visit the store physically and get expert advice on-the-go.
Majority of the shoppers that move the market are millennials today, but the future is in the hands of Gen Z and the next generations to come.
We will see further transitions in the market with the ever-changing habits of the new-age shoppers. We are definitely excited for the new transitions. Are you?