In early 2023, Jeff Fromm wrote for Forbes, “Generation Z has surpassed Millennials as the youngest and most influential consumer demographic that has begun directing brands to reconsider their customer experience strategies in order to remain relevant.”
One of the biggest differences between all the previous generations and Gen Z is that Gen Z is the first generation that has grown up with smartphones and the internet constantly available in their lives. So while the other generations may perceive your e-commerce store’s app as something helpful, Gen Z sees it as their most basic expectation.
In this article, we’ll help you understand exactly what the needs of Gen-Z customers are and what you should have in mind when redesigning and updating your CX Strategy.
What does Gen-Z Expect & Need?
- They expect businesses to show social responsibility, authenticity and trustworthiness.
- They are highlighting the importance of prioritising customer empathy within your organisation.
- Omnichannel experience is crucial. While a lot of Gen-Z customers will shop through social media, they still like shopping in-store.
- Self-service options that empower them to complete simple tasks on their own are necessary to allow them to do business with you their way.
- Digital channels must be available and intuitive to use.
- The age of instant gratification created a deep need for quick and good quality customer support service. HubSpot found that 57% of Gen Z respondents said that they expect a response from customer service within 24 hours or less.
- As an organisation not having social media is a red flag – 90% of Gen Z respondents expect businesses to have a social media presence
- YouTube is especially important as a lot of Gen-Z users will go there to look for answers – rather than search in Google for your company’s guides on how to solve a problem.
- They have a need for a good deal – and will go to your competitor in a blink of an eye if you don’t provide them with it.
What to keep in mind?
Personalisation & Omnichannel is Key
According to Twillo’s State of Personalisation report, “49% of Gen Z say they’re less likely to make a purchase and 27% say they’ll stop shopping with the brand or share the negative experience with friends or family.” after an impersonal experience.
For this generation, personalisation is a key differentiating factor between companies. And while they will easily switch brands based on the price alone, 62% of Gen-Z customers are willing to pay more for a personalised experience. So if you can get this right you can easily turn a Gen-Z customer into a loyal advocate.
Part of how you should personalise their experience (and this part is valid for all customer demographics) is by allowing them to do business with you the way they like. This is where the omnichannel solutions come in.
Gen Z are the demographic that prefers ‘non-human’ contact, however, it doesn’t mean that you should take away this option for them completely. What’s more important is that they like to choose the way they contact you and they expect the transitions from one channel to the next to be seamless. Gartner reports that “customers who experienced a seamless transition report they are 74% more likely to start in self-service next time they have an issue.” This, on the other hand, will ease the pressure on your customer service teams and allow them to foster relationships with customers who prefer to talk to humans directly.
So, putting a system in place where Gen-Z can easily contact you through chat, email, or phone and all their information is shared internally, is vital. Although other customer demographics’ concern about data privacy impacts the amount of data they’re willing to share with you, it’s not the case with Gen-Z. So you should use this to your advantage to collect as much data as possible and use it to hyper-personalise their experiences.
More emotional needs in nature
As Chris Johnson says, “For Gen Z, we found that their needs are more emotional in nature. Because of this, brands must figure out where these emotional needs live within the customer experience.”
As we mentioned before, this generation has grown up with constant access to technology, which transfers to connectivity with the world around them on a much larger scale than the generations before. The internet allows for major social issues to be spread like wildfire and this has led Gen Z to become one of the most inclusive and empathetic customer demographics out there.
They are very aware of the current global issues and therefore will look for brands that support their values.
In a study done by the International Journal of Social Science and Business, they found that “Emotional experiences help firms to create and retain loyal customers” They found that especially in this generation, emotions have a direct effect on purchasing intent.
This means that if you can create positive memorable experiences for your Gen Z customers, they’re more likely to remember you and do business with you in the future.
Core Brand Values & Transparency
Your brand values and organisational ethics are extremely important for Gen Z. To attract this customer demographic you must show that you care about diversity, world hunger sustainability, the environment and climate change.
If they choose to do business with you, they want to be assured that their values are aligned with your business values and that by giving you money they are supporting a business that is working to make a difference in the world.
A great example of this is Levi’s campaign ‘Buy Better Wear Longer’. The campaign promotes longer usage of clothing and inspires people to buy second-hand or to use their in-store ‘Tailor Shops’ to extend the life of their garments.
This campaign hyper-focused on sustainability and connected with Gen-Z on an emotional level. Not only did it support them to invest their hard-earned money in a brand that aligns with their passions, but also empowered them to support the planet themselves and allowed them to adapt their style to the current fashion trends.
Through campaigns like this, you can foster strong bonds with your Gen Z customers that will encourage them to stay loyal to your brand. Of course, you shouldn’t run these campaigns if you aren’t actually going to walk the talk – because in these cases they will see straight through it and go to social media channels to “expose” you.
If you would like to learn more about how you can design a successful CX Strategy for any customer demographic enrol in our Professional Diploma in CX today.
