Retailers must emphasize their sustainability credentials and social media engagement to better cater to the younger generations and capitalize on their growing influence on retail market trends, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s latest thematic report, “Demographics in Retail and Apparel,” highlights the differing expectations of younger consumers, particularly when it comes to their purchases in the apparel and health and beauty sectors. Within these sectors, product sustainability and social media engagement are highly influential to purchasing decisions, so they are key to retailers looking to gain ground among this increasingly important consumer demographic.
Oliver Maddison, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Younger consumers, particularly Gen Alpha, discover brands online first via social media and expect a personalized shopping journey. This leads them to favor premium retailers such as Birkenstock and Space NK, especially in apparel and health and beauty where purchases are more personal.”
The report spotlights the ‘Sephora Kid’ phenomenon, wherein premium health and beauty products have gained traction with under-14s due to their popularity among influencers on platforms like TikTok. Brands such as Glow Recipe and Bubble cater to this market with fun and colorful packaging, which appeals to younger consumers. The fact that the strategy of appealing to under-14s is successful for such retailers speaks to Gen Alpha’s buying power, through their parents and in addition to their own pocket money, highlighting the importance of catering to the preferences of young shoppers quickly.
Maddison continues: “A key trend in the purchasing behavior of young consumers, particularly that of Gen Z, has been the rising prevalence of the secondhand market, especially for apparel but also for bigger-ticket purchases such as furniture and electricals. GlobalData’s How People Shop Survey* found that globally, sustainability is the second most important driver for buying secondhand clothing and footwear after price, emphasizing the importance that retailers must place on their sustainability credentials to capture spend from younger consumers.”
A key way that several retailers have sought to cater to this desire for sustainability is by creating their own secondhand offers rather than losing sales to resale platforms such as eBay and Vinted. Notably, IKEA has launched its Preowned platform in Spain and Norway, and will launch it globally in December to support its sustainability credentials and appeal to younger consumers.
Maddison notes: “There is nonetheless more to Gens Alpha and Z than just these two key motivations. Younger consumers are, like everyone else, motivated by price, which can be seen in the success of Shein amongst the youngest UK consumers – 52.6% of 16-24 year-olds ordered from abroad in the year to October 2023, of which 40.8% bought from Shein.”
