• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 4, 2018

ViSenze recently announced the findings of its study analyzing Gen Z and Millennial consumers’ attitudes towards emerging technologies, and their impact on both in-store and online shopping experiences. The study found that 62% of respondents want visual search capabilities enabling them to quickly discover and identify the products on their mobile devices.

For this study, ViSenze surveyed over 1,000 Gen Z and Millennial consumers in the US and UK, nearly half of which shop more than once a week online and 50-60% of which shop in-store more than one a week. Of respondents, more than 60% are most likely to complete transactions on their mobile devices, with nearly 80% discovering products via mobile while on the go. 

Other key findings from the study include:

• Over 80% of Gen Z respondents say the look of a retailer’s website impacts their purchasing decisions
• While 57% of Millennials discover products on retailers’ websites, 60% of Gen Z discover products on social
• 70% of total respondents indicated that they engage with social media platforms at least five times per day
• 58% of respondents indicated they are open to interacting with shoppable content online and on social

“According to Millennial Marketing…” says Oliver Tan, CEO and Co-Founder, ViSenze… “Once focused almost exclusively on appealing to Millennials, marketers have broadened the scope of their digital strategies to take Gen Z preferences into account, as they are on track to become the largest generation of consumers by the year 2020, and account for $29 to $143 billion in direct spending… “

The data also suggests differences between the two groups when it comes to the types of product recommendations preferred, points out Tan. While over 80% of both groups welcome product recommendations, 50% of Gen Z respondents prefer brands to deliver recommendations based on their own buying behavior, while 41% of Millennials prefer to be shown recommendations based on what people similar to them are interested in. 

The research confirms, says Tan, that “…while the two consumer groups are starkly different in many ways, their shopping journeys are increasingly dominated by mobile, reaffirming the growing opportunity of shoppable content and visual search…”