Meet Gen Z: The new mobile moguls
Australia’s most mobile savvy and experience-orientated generation have the highest usage and preference of mobile commerce, but also have the highest expectations of a fast and seamless mobile shopping experience. So whether it’s an app or a mobile-optimised website, you need to future-proof your business for these mobile moguls.
According to the 2017 PayPal mCommerce Index, Gen Z is likely to abandon a purchase or payment on mobile if it’s too difficult or takes too long. 65% of Gen Z shoppers are annoyed when sites don’t work on their mobile (compared to 53% of millennials, 50% of Gen X and 40% of baby boomers). A negative mCommerce experience and the barriers that come with it were also reported more for Gen Z: 43% had experienced slow load paging (against 39% millennials and 38% Gen X), and 40% had issues with screen sizing (36% millennials, 30% Gen X).
“The emergence of Gen Z onto the shopping scene presents Australian retailers with an opportunity to engage with a generation whose buying power will only increase. It has never been more important for Australian businesses to invest in the future of their business with a mobile-first or even mobile-only mentality,” said a PayPal Australia spokesperson.
Despite the barriers, Gen Z is the generation most likely to make a spontaneous purchase or payment on their mobile device (58% compared to 51% millennials, 36% Gen X and 37% baby boomers). This really highlights the need for businesses to be where their customers are: on their mobiles.
Gen Z are also the generation with the highest frequency of mobile payments (45%), with millennials, Gen X and baby boomers trailing behind on 42%, 41% and 38% respectively. And while their youth and limited disposable income may keep their spends low right now, as they grow into more secure jobs they’ll be spending far more and doing it on their mobiles. It’s estimated that by 2020, millennials (now aged between 21 and 35) will make up 35% of the global workforce and Gen Z will account for 24% of it.
With this generation setting mCommerce trends, consider your business’s mobile strategy to safeguard for the future. After all, this cohort will be spending big before you know it so you want to grab their attention and their loyalty now.