Millennials, not Boomers, say associates are key to shopping experiences
A new survey of shoppers at malls finds most agree that store associates are important factors in the shopping experience. In a twist on conventional wisdom, however, its younger consumers with their tech-centric ways who find associates to be more important — by a wide margin —over older shoppers.
Sixty-three of everyone surveyed by ChargeItSpot said that store associates are “extremely important” while 28 percent thought they were “somewhat important.” Only nine percent had little to no use for associates.
When broken out by age, 66 percent of respondents between 18 and 35 thought sales associates were extremely important compared to 54 percent for those between 36 and 51 and less than half (49 percent) of those 52 or older.
“Retailers strive to deliver rewarding experiences to shoppers every time they enter a store,” said Douglas Baldasare, CEO and founder of ChargeItSpot, in a statement. “Store associates represent the brand and are there to help shoppers with their needs.”
One area in which more younger consumers side with technology over humans is in the use of robots. When asked whether they would stop shopping at a store if it replaced human workers with robots, only 42 percent of 18 to 35-year-olds said no vs. 54 percent of those between 36 and 51. Fifty-one percent of those 52 and up said they would not shop at a store under the same circumstances.
Overall, 43 percent of those surveyed by ChargeItSpot said they would stop shopping at stores that replace humans with machines. Twenty-seven percent said they would continue to shop at stores in this circumstance, while the remaining 30 percent said they may or may not.
“We are seeing more technology being integrated into the in-store experience,” said Mr. Baldasare. “Amazon is already testing the cashier-less checkout process in their Amazon Go location, eliminating the need for human workers altogether. While this may seem like a perk for some, it could turn shoppers away from stores.”
- STUDY: 66% of Millennials Say Presence of Store Employees is Extremely Important to Their Shopping Experience – ChargeItBack
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Why do younger consumers seem to value human associates while remaining more open to the use of robot replacements? Do these survey results make you more or less skeptical about the use of robots to replace humans in stores?
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21 Comments on "Millennials, not Boomers, say associates are key to shopping experiences"
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Vice President of Marketing, OrderDynamics
Shopping is an experience. When online, you don’t expect human intervention or help, but even here “chat” is a bridge to a person. When in-store there is an opportunity to either wow the consumer with great, catered, personalized service that shows the brand cares or a process-driven, cold experience that encourages customers to shop elsewhere. That’s what many shoppers want. Either the human touch point, an innovative experience (robot novelty) or a personalized, catered service.
Interestingly KPMG recently showed similar results indicating that Millennials are 50 percent more likely to shop in-store than Boomers. Wow. Retailers — even if you are deep into retail technology, you still need to focus on the buying journey and service experience overall. That’s what either makes retail a pleasure or a pain for shoppers!
Founder, CEO & Author, HeadCount Corporation
What is not surprising about these results is that store associates are valued and generally considered to be a key element of the in-store experience regardless of age. As to why younger consumers seem to value human associates more than older consumers is somewhat perplexing, however, it may simply be a function of experience — older consumers have a longer frame of reference to compare the shopping experiences of decades ago to today while younger consumers simply have different (and perhaps lower) expectations.
As for the use of robots and technology in general, it should be no surprise that younger shoppers are more agreeable. Technology is a central part of their lives and so the idea of deploying robots to replace human associates may seem less troubling. These survey results don’t make me feel any more or less skeptical about the use of robots in retail — they are an inevitability.
Marketing, Dor
Coming from a clicks-to-bricks perspective: When you create a compelling retail brand online and then open pop-ups or flagship stores, of course Millennial shoppers will want to engage with you in a physical space — with store associates who are heavily vetted for brand loyalty and well-versed in the products their fans are obsessed with — enjoying the thrill of getting to touch and try on the items they’ve seen on Instagram for months.
I believe this very evening Everlane is hosting a happy hour mingle to hire associates for their first permanent store (it was announced on Instagram Stories). For these clicks-to-bricks brands, recruiting happens on social media, not on Indeed listings. They’re hiring devotees from their cliques.
With that much investment in the company at the get-go, those associates are guaranteed to make the shopping experience engaging and informative. Millennials are beginning to adjust their expectations accordingly and want to have conversations about a brand’s products with someone as invested as they are.
Consultant, Strategist, Tech Innovator, UX Evangelist
Frankly — not a good source of reference and ” … said they would stop shopping at stores that replace humans with machines” as phrased (replace), likely indicates a skewed survey. In other words, the survey (of whom, how many people, what questions exactly?) is produced by a company that has an interest in retail foot traffic. So using their survey as a broad measure of ethnographic groups is almost guaranteed to create either misguided planning or false hopes.
Chief Executive Officer, The TSi Company
Principal, Frank Riso Associates, LLC
It is good news to be talking about Millennials and anything to do with in-store shopping. It tells us that online shopping for many items, while good, is not meeting all their expectations and store associates can help with color, style and size concerns at the store. It also helps with more impulse shopping for that added sale not seen online. This data makes me more skeptical regarding the use of robots but more positive about “Rate Your Salesperson” apps being used by Millennials for better and more accurate feedback for the retailer and store staff.
Principal, Retailing In Focus LLC
While I agree with Ken that every data point needs to be viewed with skepticism, it’s interesting that KPMG reached a similar conclusion. Why? Hard to say, except that younger consumers seem to expect some human interaction when they shop in physical stores. (That doesn’t mean they have the same expectation when shopping online.) Let’s consider Apple as a model for providing human interface as part of the shopping experience — and use it as a caution to other service-oriented retailers cutting back on “high touch” interaction.
Retail-Tech Specialist Advisor
Younger consumers are more used to online purchasing. The advantage for them to shop in a physical store is to get in-store service and assistance. If they don’t get it, they might as well shop online. This is more evidence that the advantage of brick-and-mortar shops over online is the human interaction and customer service in-store.
VP Marketing, PebblePost
Younger consumers value personalization. Consider their interaction with mail, which also may surprise some. According to USPS research, Millennials enjoy receiving mail even more than non-Millennials. Why? Because their mailbox is an uncluttered space where hyper-personalization and targeted offers occur. Similarly, the in-store experience can be hyper personalized and targeted to that individual’s real-time needs and wants. As other commenters pointed out, online is great for convenience and speed but Millennials also expect retailers to use the data about their preferences in personalized ways. Bridging that gap between online and offline in-store experiences will make all the difference.
Managing Director, RAM Communications
SVP Marketing, Theatro
Context is key for these surveys. Millennials like to engage with associates ONLY if they are knowledgeable and helpful. Without connected associates, Millennials will resort to their own smartphone to get answers. The fact that they like both automation and engagement means their needs change frequently. Employ automation to remove friction from the shopping experience (i.e. checkout) and ensure connected associates are able to help engage shoppers on a moment’s notice.
CEO, Beekeeper
Technology shouldn’t entirely replace humans, it should complement the experience. Many assume Millennials only like to use digital tech, but they’re so connected all the time that they do like to disconnect when they can. If a customer is taking the time to walk through a store, it makes sense that they’re open to interacting with real associates, otherwise they could have made their purchases online. I don’t think the majority of the population would ever prefer robots entirely replacing humans in stores.
CEO and President, Walking TALL Training & Consulting, Inc.
This is important research and all retailers should take close note of it. While technology is important in the lives of Millennials, they still value the human interaction. I see so much focus on technology solutions in retail today and a decreasing level of attention to basic customer experience skills. Maybe it’s time to re-focus on training and bringing human personality into the brand experience.
EVP Thought Leadership, Marketing, WD Partners
Right! In surveys we do, Millenials almost always rank the store associate last in terms of the experience of being at physical retail. So yeah, I would imagine that when they run into a great associate, it would make a huge difference.
Most of the massive issues retail is dealing with today are blocking and tackling fundamentals: good service, fast checkout, easy navigation, fair prices, realistic growth. As my old mentor used to say, “retail is NOT rocket science, it’s not even science.” Right.
President & CEO, Balance Innovations
Knowledgeable, smart, friendly associates make all the difference. To attract and retain employees with these skills they need to be paid well and doing work that they enjoy. To accomplish this, it’s important that rote, manual tasks be eliminated as much as possible so that they can focus on what they like — being experts about their products and services and engaging with customers — which in the end will delight the consumer. Millennials and then everyone else.
Retail industry thought leader
President, Humetrics
Just two quick comments so I don’t just keep repeating what has already been written.
1. All things being equal, people do business with people they like. All things being unequal, people do business with people they like.
2. The quality of the people is important only if having and delivering great customer experience is important. No matter how much technology you use. The quality of your people is the ultimate test.
President, Protonik
Finally we are breaking past the misguided mythology about Millennials. Great to see reports like this.
Amid the hype about bots, AI, and deep learning, we must never forget that a single, true human contact with a store associate delivers far more today AND for brand equity than all the sexy gizmo’s we can invent.
Retail will never win by replacing human contact with technology … that’s “online shopping”?
Founder and CEO, project44
Young consumers want to know more about the products they’re purchasing. Millennials have grown up in the information age, and they’re used to having everything they need to know readily available to them. They’re also starting to realize how misleading descriptions on the internet can be, so they trust human beings more.
President, Ipsos Retail Performance
While Millennials are more tech-savvy than previous generations, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their attitude is more positive towards technology and its impact. In Ipsos’ latest global trends survey, 53% of Millennials surveyed agreed with the statement “I fear that technical progress is destroying our lives.” This compared to 49% of Baby Boomers. Millennials perhaps understand that they are not after a frictionless in-store experience, because they classify some friction, such as store assistants, as “good friction.”
CEO, Motista
Human store associates, and “smart store” technologies are not, as some suggest, at opposite ends of the spectrum. Rather, those smart technologies complement and enhance the in-store personal experience. Realistically, robots and AI won’t replace human workers entirely – but it will streamline and customize the shopper experience, and allow those human employees to take more time with customers. Shopping – whether online or in-store, or whether it’s with human-only associates or a technology-enhanced human experience – is always going to be an emotional experience. Understanding the key drivers behind buying decisions is the role of that technology, and that information, and the smart store technology that drives it, is what will make that shopping experience more personal.