How Do Shopping Habits Differ Among Various Generations of Consumers?

Over the years, brands have developed different techniques that are supposed to appeal to different generations of consumers. In recent years, for example, companies have focused heavily on marketing to millennials – consumers aged between 23 and 39 – who are gradually gaining more purchasing power. Marketers have been adapting their marketing tactics to this generation for some time, but are slowly starting to cater to Gen Z, which is characterized by unique shopping habits. This group, which includes consumers under the age of 23, is not afraid to waste money, which is why it attracts a huge amount of attention in the eyes of businesses. Meanwhile, older customers, especially members of the post-war generation and Generation X, are slowly fading into the background.

Are the intergenerational differences really that noticeable? Are millennial shopping habits really the exact opposite of those of baby boomers? Are the generations more similar and share the same concerns about the future and shop in the same stores? The answers to all these and other questions can be found in the following paragraphs.

Who Makes Up Consumer Groups?

Before we begin the analysis, it is important to know the four key generations that make up the consumer market in 2021. The table below shows the names of market groups, years of birth and age of individuals who make up different generations.

Quick Facts

Although shopping habits vary from individual to individual, we can nevertheless generalize certain facts that are specific to each of the four generations.

• Older generations prefer to shop in stores mainly because they can see the products in person before actually buying them, and so that they can return them to the store in case of dissatisfaction.
• Gen Z prefers to shop in stores mainly because of how quick the purchase is. From a social point of view, they also enjoy shopping with friends.
• Millennials prefer to shop online because it offers them the option of home shipping, which allows them to spend their time on something other than driving to the mall. This aspect of online shopping also attracts the post-war generation, mainly because of the convenience of shopping from home.
• Amazon is popular among all four generations, and the biggest consumers are millennials, who make up 65% of Amazon customers. Gen Z prefers visiting the brand’s website and make a purchase directly from the seller.
• About 75% of Gen Z and millennials use smartphones for online shopping – much more than any other generation.
• 63% of Gen Z use laptops for online shopping, which is significantly more than any other generation, including millennials.

Due to different shopping habits, lifestyle, income and other factors, marketing tactics are used to reach consumers of different ages. Let’s take a look at some of the best strategies when targeting different generation groups.

Let’s Go into Details

Gen Z

This generation does not trust advertising – communication must be credible and your brand must be trusted. They tend to shop according to their friends’ recommendations and influencer marketing. They will identify with an influencer of similar values and interests, which in turn encourages them to buy products that are being advertised. Gen Z hangs out on social media, but typical social networks like Facebook and Twitter won’t have much of an impact. Most teens spend time on networks that display videos and pictures, such as Snapchat or Instagram.

Millennials

This generation group also spends a lot of time on social media and noticeably enjoys interacting with brands. About a third of millennials buy products directly on Facebook, which, in addition to Instagram and Pinterest, promotes the most trust in various companies. These online networks help young people to find products that they can actually use. Compared to Gen Z, Millennials rarely look at Snapchat ads, while more than two thirds trust their friends’ opinions, their own brand experience, and user opinions on websites the most. An extremely important fact is that millennials like to feel part of the community – that’s why they like to take part in giveaways, competitions, joint activities and even co-create content.

Generation X

Email marketing has proven to be the most successful marketing strategy as far as Generation X is concerned, as a significant proportion (80%) respond positively to it. Since this age group is busy building a career and creating a family, they don’t always have time to read long texts, which means the latter should be short with a clear message. For these same reasons, they spend a lot of time on Facebook, as it is full of interesting posts and fun content. This generation loves free products and coupons, so show them your gratitude with promotional and business gifts – they will return the gesture with long-term loyalty to your brand.

Baby boomers (post-war generation)

This generation spends a lot more time online than you might think. About 80% of boomers regularly visit at least one of the social networks, and most swear by interacting on Facebook. If, as a company, you wanted to reach this age group, you would have to focus your marketing efforts here. More than half of boomers who use social networks visit a company’s website or look up more information by browsing the web. This means that a strong online presence is needed to encourage shopping in stores. Like Generation X, boomers love rewards – most are already passionate about loyalty programs, especially those that are easy to understand.

Where Do Different Age Groups Spend Their Money?

Online shopping is prevalent in each of the generations, but millennials are the ones who enjoy the simplicity of online ordering most often (91%). Compared to them and other generations, baby boomers spend the least time on online shopping (81%), because, as already mentioned, they prefer to see the products in person before the actual purchase. Generations Z and X are similar in terms of percentages – about 10-11% of consumers shop exclusively in stores, while 89-90% prefer to shop online. Why is that?

Generations have a variety of reasons why they choose to shop online, from the ease of shopping without leaving the comfort of their own homes, to reading other customers’ opinions about the product. The latter is most important for Gen Z, while millennials and Generation X choose to shop online mainly because of the possibility of fast delivery and being able to choose among several different product models and larger stock. The generation born immediately after the Second World War, however, opted for this form of shopping mainly because of the possibility of avoiding public places and the possibility of buying directly from home. Of course, the reason for the increase in online purchases this year and last year is due to the Covid-19 virus.

Who Spends the Most Money?

The post-war generation is willing to spend the most money online, while millennials and Gen Z are opting for less extravagant purchases, even though they are still willing to spend a considerable amount on a particular product. But the group with the most money is the one that is willing to spend the least – Generation X has the highest average household income, but is willing to give up a significantly smaller amount of money for the product.

Interestingly, millennials are the ones most concerned about their financial future, even though Gen Z is the one that probably has the lowest income. Generation X, however, does not feel safe despite their high average income, which explains their frugality.

Given the fact that these three generations have expressed concern about their financial future, it makes sense that they are looking not only for ways to increase their income, but also ways to spend less money. To this end, a significant proportion of consumers are choosing to reduce their purchases of luxury products in the future.

What Awaits Us in the Future?

Millennials and Generation X are confident that in the future, most purchases will be made online. However, the post-war generation is not a big fan of this idea, as two thirds of them believe that online shopping cannot replace shopping in stores. And it’s true that every generation wants to go back to the shops, especially Gen Z.

As you can see, the generations are not as different as it seems at first glance! While a significant percentage of generations use social media to view products, most still prefer newsletter and flyers, which are considered the most effective ways of communication. It is important to know that each generation is made up of unique personalities, lifestyles and shopping habits. These characteristics can be a good guide in the development of marketing strategies, especially in terms of segmentation, analytics, and other marketing methods based on demographic data.