There are four generations of consumers today: the Baby Boomers (those born between 1945 and 1968), the Generation X (those born between 1969 and 1983), the Millennials (those born between 1984 and 1993), and the Generation Z (those born between 1994 and 2002). If you want your Lakeland shopping business to prosper, you need a thorough understanding of two of the biggest consumer groups—the Millennials and the Generation Z.
They want businesses to do more for society
A large portion of Millennials and Generation Z mistrust companies because of labor malpractices and unethical work standards. They want these companies to do more for society and to be responsible for their business’ effects on the environment.
A staggering 68% of a group of Millennials and Generation Z surveyed in 2018 believe that most companies have no interest to contribute beneficially to society. Instead, they simply want to make money.
In fact, many of these consumers prefer giving their support to companies that are known for their social advocacies and good practices in the workplace.
Millennials prefer computers, Generation Z wants smartphones
Baby boomers and Millennials still purchase laptops and desktops but the same cannot be said for Generation Z. instead, the latter’s purchase of laptops depend on their income. While almost 95% of American teens have access to smartphones in 2018, only 88 percent of the surveyed teens own a computer at home.
Millennials are also most likely to make a purchase using their laptops while Generation Z shops online via their smartphones. In fact, only 11% of the surveyed Millennials said they made their most recent online purchase through their smartphone.
Generation Z is more visual
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter may have dominated the past decade but they are in for a treat. Since they are largely text-based, especially Twitter, Generation Z is not exactly fond of them.
Instead, those consumers aged 13 to 19 are more likely to turn to Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat than Facebook. Only 51 percent of the teens surveyed use Facebook while a staggering 85 percent are on YouTube, 72 percent on Instagram, and 69 percent on Snapchat.
Millennials, on the other hand, are slower to transition to image-based social media platforms. Only 54% of Americans aged 25 to 29 are Snapchat users while 57% of them use Instagram. YouTube is the safest platform that can reach both Millennials and Generation Z with 80% usage for both groups.