The Gen Z store prioritizes technology for a modern experience

A new study finds that young shoppers are leading the push away from the traditionally sought-after qualities of convenient location, clean and comfortable stores, and friendly employees.

SUMMARY:

Purpose of this Study?

Gen Z is the first generation to have never known a life without immediate access to the internet. This plugged-in demographic has increasingly become top of mind for many brands as it represents a growing pool of independent consumers who, for the first time, are making their own shopping decisions. While recent research confirms younger shoppers still want to shop in person, the team at Creative Realities wanted to better understand the role technology played in that modern shopping experience. What we found were some notable generational differences in shopper preferences that indicate an emerging shift in what that in-store experience could look like.

We weren’t surprised to learn that Gen Z is the generation most likely to seek technology-enabled, self-service solutions compared to other consumers; they’ve been telling us this. What was surprising was how much more they seemed to prioritize these things over more traditionally expressed shopping preferences. For example, Gen Z is significantly less demanding of the traditionally sought-after brick-and-mortar shopper experiences, like an organized and neat store or a convenient location.

• A full half (50%) of their parent’s generation, Gen X, expressed that a pleasant physical environment is a must-have for a positive shopping experience.
• In comparison, roughly only one in four (29%) of younger pollsters (Gen Z) expressed a strong preference for a well-organized physical store as a must-have part of a positive shopping experience.

The Gen Z shopper is twice as likely to classify things like self-checkouts and self-service kiosks as must-haves.?

• A third of Gen Z shoppers said self-checkout technology was a must-have part of the modern shopping experience, compared to just 16% of Gen X shoppers saying the same thing.?
• That was also true for self-serve kiosks, with twice as many Gen Z shoppers (13%) saying they were something they had to have as Gen X shoppers (7%).

That’s the importance of technology doubling in the space of just two generations, indicating that businesses still on the fence about further integrating these kinds of technologies into the shopping experience are in danger of being left behind. “We’ve had an anecdotal awareness of the generational differences present in shopper preferences, but this survey puts that reality into hard numbers,” said Beth Warren, Creative Realities’ senior vice president of marketing. “Younger shoppers are compelled more by convenience and autonomy, whereas their older counterparts still place a high value on various contextual elements, things like pleasant human interactions with knowledgeable employees and well-designed store layouts. That doesn’t mean younger shoppers don’t want those things, but it was surprising where they fell on their list of priorities.” Working with the third-party survey platform Pollfish, we asked 1,000 U.S. adults in May 2023 to share insights regarding their preferred consumer experiences across several categories. Here are the results of our modern shopping experience survey.

KEY FINDINGS:?

• Respondents are generally positive about the overall impact of technology on the shopping experience. More than 75% feel that technology makes shopping better, but there is some variance between the types of shoppers...Finish the rest of this 4-minute read, 'The Gen Z Store Prioritizes Technology for a Modern Experience' by visiting: https://cri.com/