Gen Z VS. E-Commerce
Born in the digital age Gen Z is one of the leading consumers to look at during this ever-changing era. For companies, it is always important to look at how Gen Z is buying their products. One might assume they use E-Commerce, as it popped up alongside the internet allowing individuals to purchase goods from the comfort of their homes. However, that is not the case. E-Commerce is taking a major hit from Social Commerce.
What is Social Commerce you might ask? It is the purchasing of goods through social media platforms. From this statists Pie chart, we can see a staggering 62% of Gen Z purchase goods using their smartphones after seeing a branded post or an influencer talk about a product.
This data was pulled from more than three hundred and fifty Gen Z and Millennials. That is a massive chunk of people purchasing goods based on what they saw on social media. The main thing that made them buy it is the button below most of these posts allowing you to go to the page to purchase them.
If companies want to get more Gen Z and Millenials to purchase their products they need to start marketing on these social media platforms. This is especially easy because there's no hassle of driving to the store to buy the item. They can simply press the button below the advertisement and boom you have a sale. Forbes states that “Brands need to consider a more seamless experience from discovery to checkout”. This is a large factor in purchasing products these days. Nobody from Gen Z wants to hop and skip around the internet just to purchase something. Gen Z would rather have it be as simple as a press of a button. That is why E-Commerce is slowing down and Social Commerce is speeding up with their generation. Another thing Forbes mentions is Gen Z’s “pronounced dislike for disruptive traditional advertising”.
Sure this method worked in the past, but now most of the current generation won't pay attention to it. That is why as a brand you have to keep up with the times and adapt. Simple things such as Twitter posts and Creative Tik Toks can heavily boost the number of people who choose your brand over others. Simply adding to their entertainment rather than stopping it ensures that you as a marketer have done your job. Rather than say swiping to the next video on Tik Tok these consumers might just stay and watch the video. Then after they thoroughly enjoyed your content they look down and see a button to purchase whatever was advertised. And with one simple press of that button, they are onto purchasing your product.
With this simple and efficient way to purchase goods, it's not hard to see why Social Commerce is winning over E-Commerce.
*Note: This article is a class assignment for BUS 465 — Integrated Brand Promotion and Advertising at NCSU Poole College of Management.
