Mall me maybe… Does Gen Z still shop IRL? They do!

Ah, remember the glory days of malls?

Just because we’re all stuck to our screens in 2019, that doesn’t mean bricks and mortar’s dead. That’s especially the case with Gen Z.

Listen up, physical retail friends!

According to 3,000 Aussie students we interviewed:

• 78% prefer to shop at places they know they can get a discount (but they don’t like to ask, so make it clear).
• 81% said they do product research online but would make their purchase either online or in-store — whichever had the best price (and if it’s 20% Off or better, you can be sure you’ve got their attention).

Fresh from our homepage.

Now, the good news here is discounts aren’t the only incentive they get excited about. In order of desirability:

• Gift with purchase (a nice, tangible bonus).
• Loyalty program (ideally, gamified, with points and such).
• Student exclusives (hey, everyone likes to feel special).

Sweet-toothed students were automatically entered into a comp to win a dessert platter whenever they purchased in-store using our exclusive discount. There were 7k entries over six weeks.

Consider the following admissions from our interviewees, too:

• The preferred place to shop is large retailers offering a range of categories — convenience wins.
• They purchase more in-store than online — huh?!

Selfie! Here we are in Glassons.

Let us explain:

Just over one-quarter of our interview panel currently rents, which means the vast majority doesn’t. More disposable income for them… but there are also implications for their social lives.

Living at home carries with it a tendency to want to spend more time out of home.

What, you like chilling with your folks?

Good luck trying to find an image that better depicts the complex dynamic between parent and child.

Physical retailers have an edge here.

Since the invention of both malls and students, the two have been a match made in shopping heaven.

They go out and hang, which covers all manner of activities, from movies to mini-golf to bowling to coffee to dinner to drinks to, of course, buying.

So, if you offer a good in-store experience and can throw in a discount/gift with purchase/loyalty program/student exclusive, this puts you in the strongest position to attract Gen Z student shoppers.

Discounts have broad appeal, but there are other ways to entice the student audience, too — especially within the four walls of your store.