Gen Z: Shopping Experience

Generation Z-ers are going to be tricky customers to target. Anyone born in or after the year 1995 is almost garunteed to have grown up with computers. Their parents probably bought them "Leap Frog", play computers as a child and they may already have their own cell phones. This generation uses high-speed internet connection, DVD's and Ipods as a normal part of everyday life. The current war going on in the middle east, brought on by the events that took place on September 11, 2001, undoubtedly have made some kind of impact on these children. Even though they are not yet old enough to understand what all is going on, it will drastically affect their futures.

So, much can be said about how all of this affects the retailing industry. First of all, marketers will have to realize the buying potential of these pre-teens. Many of the people born in this time period will be shopping their local mall in search of the newest and hottest trends they see the "older" kids wearing. The "tweens", especially, will be out shopping by themselves looking for more grown up looks. Many kids in this generation think they are growing up faster than they may be. These people are going to be looking for an individual look, something more unique from what others are wearing. Since these people are shopping at an earlier age, they are most likely to spend more money on clothes and items they "need." The stores targeted towards these so called "tweens" need to be colorful, energetic, and flashy to draw these kids into their store.