Generation Alpha’s potential future shopping behaviours and marketing preferences were a hot topic at Propeller’s recent EE/TFM panel.
The cohort is currently aged between six and 16-years-old but the upper age range will be entering higher education, taking up apprenticeships or joining the workforce over the next few years. Brands, agencies and retailers need to prepare strategies to meet this new customer base forecast to be responsible for $5.46 trillion of spending power globally by 2029 (source McCrindle).
There’s plenty of research around Alpha’s current preferences and behaviours, such as the VML study that shows they enjoy shopping in-store more than online (69% vs 63%) – but these young people are a changing and diverse generation.
Our panel ‘What is Gen Alpha’s big ask of ecommerce?’ at the co-located Ecommerce Expo 2024 and Technology for Marketing shows offered up a range of views and insights from brands and specialists.
Propeller Group Director of Content Branwell Johnson led the session and was joined by Ruth Arber, Industry Head, Fashion, Retail & Beauty at Snap Inc., Libby Gordon, UK CEO of charity FARA Foundation, Lea Karam, behavioural scientist and Consulting Director at the Behave Consultancy and Ollie Shayer, Director of Omni Channel & Media Planning – Boots UK & ROI.
Hybrid experiences will drive engagement
Physical shopping for pleasure and fun is attractive to this cohort. Ruth said: “Online, seamless shopping, delivered next day is normal for Gen Alpha. The ability to go into stores is more exciting for them. They enjoy it, it’s something different.”
To knit online and offline journeys together into the kind of hybrid experiences valued by ‘Generation iPad’ will need deployment of technologies including streaming and AR and strategies such as live shopping, social commerce and gamification. Speed and convenience will be regarded as hygiene factors and success will lie in providing Gen Alphas “with delight, multi-sensory connection, values and a support system,” said Lea.
Brands can create unique events that draw Gen Alpha in-store and technology and social platforms will help forge the connection with the digital world, allowing Gen Alpha to share instore experiences online. For example, Snapchat is used every day by a large proportion of 13–24-year-old user base to communicate– they believe it’s a credible and authentic way to have one-to-one connections, Ruth said.
It’s important to know who is influencing Gen Alpha’s behaviours and shopping choices. Parents (who are mainly millennials) and friends loom large, while the cohort also have their favourite creators. Ollie pointed out that the challenge for brands is to keep products and the channels for engagement fresh because interest in a brand can soon dissipate. The gap between awareness and purchase is now so short that “brands have been very hot and disappeared fast; the challenge is not to burn out.” Lea added that this narrowing gap between awareness and purchase meant the traditional marketing funnel had transformed into much more of a loop.
The cohort’s powerful desire for community and connection will remain. Libby pointed out that this cohort’s positive attitude towards sustainability means ‘pre-loved’ outlets, including charity shops, can provide that in-store communal experience while aligning with values held by Gen Alpha.
Data and digital downtime
Building experiences will require data collation but should brands expect pushback from these youngsters? Ollie stressed it was up to brands to show how sharing data translates into value for young people with better personalisation. Lea added: “Data is a sunk cost for them, now they want to be delighted but are still being careful about where they go and what they read.”
Ruth stressed: “They will be the most well-educated generation about usage and Gen Alpha are being monitored by their parents.” She pointed out that platforms and apps are acting responsibly and pointed to Snap’s Family Centre that helps parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat.
Just because this cohort have grown up as digital natives doesn’t mean they don’t realise the need for digital downtime. This ‘take a break’ behaviour is being introduced, as Libby pointed out, by schools and parents enforcing detoxes. brands should be aware of this and create safer, self-regulating online environments.
And finally, Ollie urged brands to keep being curious and to deploy wherever the consumer is. “The explosion of TikTok is fuelled by behaviours today, but we all need to be continually curious about opportunities, think about the audiences of tomorrow and who is influencing future audiences today.”
