What Does Gen Z Expect From Ecommerce?

Gen Z are responsible for shaping the future of eCommerce. Born between 1997-2012, Gen Z is the first generation to grow up using mobile devices. They’re tech savvy, they are a huge part of the eCommerce client base, and they know what they want. Let’s take a look at what this is.

Strong Social Media Presence

Gen Z is the most social media driven generation. It functions as their entertainment source, news outlet, information source, social source, and communication source. If your business does not have a social media presence, you are missing out on connecting.

They want to use social media to:

• Understand your brand image
• Engage in the community
• See if you share common value
• Follow how up to date on current trends you are
• Share and see user generated content for social proof

Having a viral social media post, or scoring a top influencer will be a great hit with Gen Z. As a result of this impact of Gen Z’s relationship with social media, it has spilled over to other generations. For this reason, social media, and social commerce are being put at the forefront of social strategies as a result of Gen Z.

TikTok Understanding

If you don’t know about TikTok already, it’s a user generated social media sharing platform. It consists of short videos, sometimes with music, sometimes educational, sometimes comedic, and sometimes adverts. Gen Z are very invested in this app.

If something goes viral on TikTok, it will have a huge impact on Gen Z. For this reason, when done well, if a brand or a business invests time and energy into their TikTok presence, this can have a huge effect on Gen Z. 

It’s important to understand your target audience before investing in this. If Gen Z are your main demographic, investing in a TikTok is undoubtedly a good idea. If it’s not, but it’s a market you care about, having a successful TikTok campaign can and will boost engagement and brand loyalty. 

Social Issues Consciousness

Gen Z are very environmentally and socially conscious consumers. If you aren’t making your values and mission statements transparent, you will lose out on sales. They wants to know that their fashion is made from sustainable sources, with low environmental impact.

They want to know if you support any charities, and if so which. They want to know that you value inclusivity, and support LGBTQIA+ and racial diversity within your company. These are important considerations to understand if you want to keep Gen Z on board. It’s no longer possible to be faceless and nameless, if Gen Z invests in you, they want to know who their money is going to. 



Hyper-Personalization Availability

Gen Z grew up with Amazon already knowing their name. They wouldn’t consider that there wouldn’t be an element of personalization involved in their eCommerce experience. Whey they expect, is a hyper-relevant, hyper-personalized experience.

This should be powered by advanced AI systems that can use data privacy regulated systems to offer them recommendations and an overall purchasing journey singular to them. Whether this is through outreach (email and SMS messaging), or simply on the store itself, this makes all the difference.

Gen Z are tech savvy, they know what they like and they know how technology works. They expect personalization to be top of the range, and if it’s less than this you may lose sales and brand loyalty.

Advanced Omnichannel Experience

Gen Z uses their mobile devices to make a huge percentage of their purchases. They also want to be able to browse your website, and even sometimes purchase on social media. Rather than brick and mortar stores, or using the phone, these are the omnichannel areas expected to be optimized.

Whether it’s optimizing your store’s website or by creating a mobile app, making sure that wherever Gen Z start and finish their purchase, they will do so with consistency and ease. This should also include the checkout process, which should be flexible across all channels and offer different payment options.

Speed and Accessibility

Gen Z has a shorter attention span than generations before them. They don’t want to wait for your website to load, or to get in touch with representatives. They want to be able to find answers to their questions immediately. A great way of achieving this would be through a chatbot. 

Concise explanations and product details are important. Being creative and using short videos to display messages would also be a great way of catering to this. The faster and more seamless the experience, the better.

When it comes to Gen Z’s expectations, they all move forwards with the times. Making sure that your website is optimized when it comes to site speed, social media and personalization is key. On top of that, stating clearly your mission values and other statements is key. Bearing this in mind, you can meet and exceed expectations.