Gen Zs pick TikTok for Black Friday and Xmas shopping
Six in ten Gen Zs will do their Black Friday 2021 and Christmas shopping using alternative methods such as Pinterest, TikTok and Alexa, according to research by Brightpearl.
57% of 18- to 24-year-olds have turned to non-traditional ways of spending over the last year.
A study of 2,000 Brits revealed WhatsApp (41%) is the platform they expect to rely on most.
Facebook (32%), voice assistants like Alexa (31%), TikTok (16%), and Pinterest (17%) will also be popular – as will livestream shopping via retailer websites (19%).
Many over 35s also intend to use similar ways of spending during their Christmas and Black Friday sprees - 25% and 17% respectively.
Four in ten people prefer new social buying channels and livestream as they combine entertainment and shopping - much like traditional malls do.
Similarly, 36% of Brits think they are better because they can interact and socialise with their friends more easily while they enjoy a spending spree.
Very few businesses are, however, set up to take advantage of this trend.
A study of 200 retailers found low adoption for new discovery and selling channels, including TikTok (15%), YouTube (20%) and livestream spending (9%).
Brightpearl’s Nick Shaw says: “In the pre-internet age, retailers gradually realised shopping can be a form of entertainment, and a wider social activity, which is not only fun for consumers but also results in more sales. As such, traditional stores made more effort to make shopping ‘an experience’ – a form of leisure.”
“And we’re now seeing this happen with online shopping thanks to a host of new ways to buy online - from new social media channels, to voice and live streaming - that combine shopping with socialising and entertainment.”
“The ‘new normal’ for commerce this Holiday season and beyond is now likely to be framed by many non-traditional ways of shopping, which provides a huge choice to consumers and retailers.”
“But, there’s a very real danger of retailers losing out on sales this holiday season if they don’t - or can't - enable shoppers to spend in these ‘new’ ways.”
“Things are changing in the world of online shopping and changing quickly”
The study also found that shoppers are also paying for their purchases in different ways.
While debit (55%) and credit cards (50%) remain popular they aren’t the number one choice – that goes to PayPal (58%).
The likes of Apple Pay (13%), Google Pay (11 %), and Amazon Pay (11%) are also popular, as are Klarna (10%) and Shopify (8%).
Yet many retailers don’t offer these payment methods. For instance, of those polled two thirds aren’t setup for Shopify and 42% don’t allow consumers to pay through Amazon.
Shaw comments: “We really are at the beginning of a new trend – things are changing in the world of online shopping and changing quickly.”
“It is inevitable that more and more shoppers will buy and spend online in a variety of ways – especially as we approach Christmas and Black Friday.”
“Unfortunately, many retailers will miss out because they aren’t set up to quickly add the new selling channels or payment methods that their customers now prefer.”
