We are entering a post-app world. Who wants to load yet another app on their phone when digital tools today should be such that an app is not needed? Texting plus native mobile tools should be sufficient. This being said, digital tools overall are certainly swaying shopping decisions and retailers who ignore emerging digital tools will be gone in a few years.

If you look at every age demographic, the interesting thing is that even Baby Boomers appreciate and show evidence of leveraging more convenient shopping journeys when they are available. This phenomenon isn’t exclusive to the youngest people. Yes all shoppers want and are using simpler methods of shopping, either with aggregator/marketplace sites, apps or ubiquitous promotions that make getting the (implied) best deal easier to accomplish. I believe that all people have maxed out on individual retailer apps on their smartphones.

Boy, there’s a lot of “duh” in that study, eh? Snark aside, it is interesting talking to people under 30 about price in that life stage comes into play in a big way. Millennial and Generation Z categorizations don’t apply as much as where they are at in life: high school, college, new workforce member, married, married with kids, all those “stages” are SO much different. You see price mattering more as they ascend that ladder. It is great that you can comp in a second, but it might not matter.

Interesting to note on all this: AI is not such a big deal in moving people under 30 to purchase. Kids don’t talk to apps, they use them. It seems from initial conversations that AI is way more interesting to older consumers. So the latest/most high-tech seems to have done a generational reverse. At least for now.

The headline (price vs. convenience) is a false choice, since adept retailers ought to be able to deliver both. That’s the expectation of consumers today, whether they are Millennials or Generation Z or their parents. M-commerce has empowered shoppers over the past decade, because of the vast amount of knowledge at their fingertips and the growth of retailers who know how to leverage it.

Young consumers do concern themselves with price, however they are not comparing prices between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar but more so, they are comparing prices e-commerce vs. e-commerce, or even Amazon third party vs. Amazon third party Prime vs. Amazon Prime.

Young consumers are not using e-commerce so much as a convenience, but more so because they are living in a different cultural mindset, where they prefer not subjecting themselves to a physically social environment to do their shopping. They are inclined to shop online where they can read reviews, compare and make decisions without subjecting themselves to sales people or verbal, eyeball-to-eyeball human contact.

As a whole, in-store apps simply don’t work because they are not sustainable. That being said, my daughter — a Millennial, is an avid Cartwheel power-user. Statistics continually show that shoppers may download many apps only to use them once or twice and then discard them. Proximity marketing and merchandising technologies that rely on Wi-Fi hotspots, such as those found in Starbucks, are far more convenient and hence sustainable. Living in a nanosecond world, speed and immediate gratification are more often valued over other benefits. The interesting observation that I’ve made is that Millennial and Generation Z shoppers will do extensive searches in order to find convenience, immediacy and value (particularly free shipping!).

The transformation that is highlighted in the article will increasingly establish the mobile channel as the favorite means of shopping for Generation Y and Generation Z, whether the purchase is made online or the channel is used to research prior to a brick-and-mortar purchase. As use of the mobile channel becomes more prevalent with all consumers, other factors such as price will rise in importance.

At the moment, retailers can use their mobile apps and mobile websites to deliver “packaged loyalty” to customers. The way Amazon packages it’s growing set of benefits for Prime members, convenience and value is the overall message delivered to its members.

As this approach to retailing is more widely adopted, the packaged set of benefits may be treated as “must-haves” and consumers will turn attention to other factors to make purchase decisions.

In my three national surveys of Millennials, not surprisingly, I found that they were increasing their use of technology when shopping. My shopping research was focused on grocery shopping. Almost one quarter of all Millennials used online/internet/mobile to shop for groceries in the past 30 days. Conversely, despite FMI statistics that suggest 90 percent of all Americans shop for groceries in a regular full-service supermarket during the same time period, slightly more than half of all Millennials shopped in a regular full service supermarket during the previous 30 days.

In preparing/doing their food shopping this group made extensive use of the following:

• Email circulars;
• Online coupons;
• Visits to store websites;
• Mobile technology for learning;
• Mobile technology to compare prices.

This generation does not have the same attitudes/behaviors and will not spend on the same categories as their parents did. Food marketers who assume that the Millennials will start to behave like current older Americans, just because they age, do so at their peril. 

Convenience is a trend that cannot be ignored. The ease of doing business with you will become a competitive advantage — in many cases, even more than price. Apps are convenient ways for consumers to connect with retailers. The goal is to replicate what the consumer feels is a typical shopping experience. The app must be intuitive and easy-to-use. And the best apps will allow for some personalized offerings from the retailer. Making it easy to buy from a company makes it an easy choice for the customer.

I am not sure most consumers switch apps to shop by brand. I think mobile shopping in general (app or not) created a generation of shoppers that are comfortable with technology and have higher expectations of information and service. Some will lean towards deals and lower price; some will lean towards convenience and service — all driven on mobile.

Generation Zers do not want another app on their phone, especially a shopping app. We are fine using the mobile version. No reason for every single retailer to make an app, but they must have a mobile version of their site that is easy, and fast to navigate and check out. And yes, Generation Z is very price conscious, we are savers and know how to find the best prices. FYI, I never purchased clothing at Amazon before, only Finish Line, Macy’s, Foot Locker and Nike, but I’m done with Nike because they never ever send us a promo code and and their prices are getting out of hand. CSG (Champs/Foot Locker) is my new go to. Good looking clothes and 1/4 the price of Nike and Under Armour. Worth looking into their stock….

Having a constant, virtually unlimited amount of information at their fingertips has changed consumers’ shopping behavior and elevated expectations for customer service. Consumers now use mobile devices to research products, compare prices, and complete purchases online to pay for in-store purchases, and to do functions previously done only by associates. While price is almost always a consideration, convenience and personalization are just as important, and sometimes more important, in the purchase decision for Millennials and Gen Z consumers.

Millennials and Gen-Z expect everything right now and want everything to be efficient and easy. Bombarding them with messages or offers that are not relevant will turn them off very quickly. Personalization is an imperative for mobile apps, because by the nature of an app, retailers should already know something about the customer and can use this information to personalize the experience. Context is also key to “best” customer service regardless of age as real-time retail and unified commerce take hold understanding the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, weather) will differentiate the savvy retailer from the laggard.