The Gen Z demographic is fast turning into the most valuable market subset for ecommerce platforms to tackle because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up securing their revenues for many years to come. This demographic is growing both in numbers and in age, and as they enter adult life and attain financial independence catering to them will be an increasingly significant priority for brands and ecommerce platforms.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Emplifi’s recent survey of around 1,000 US based consumers reveals quite a bit of dissatisfaction among Gen Z buyers. According to this survey, around 70% of consumers who belong to the Gen Z demographic felt that the purchasing journey failed to meet their expectations, and that does not bode well for the future of the industry since they might turn to alternate methods if their needs are not met.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, almost the same number of respondents, around 65-67%, said that they preferred to use social media for all of their purchases and transactions. That suggests that Gen Z users are a market that social media companies will have to work very hard to lose, but we wouldn’t put it past them considering the slow progress that they tend to make with all things having been considered and taken into account.
65% of Gen Z respondents said that they preferred shopping on Instagram, with TikTok being popular among 51% of respondents. Around 76% of Gen Z consumers said that they preferred Facebook, so Meta has a lot going for it in terms of ecommerce success. It would be interesting to see if this impacts Meta’s decisions in the future, since the company has struggled to maintain its status as a premier social media platform although such high preference rates among both young and old consumers gives it a chance to switch entirely to the ecommerce niche over the next few years.