The Return To In-Person Shopping And How The Online Generation Is Leading It
In the past few years, the trend for how people are shopping has begun to shift. The past decade had seen a move toward nearly online-only shopping; the in-person shopping industry was slowing and surely dying; Cyber Monday surpassed Black Friday; stores had to allow online returns in person; and malls, stand-alone stores, and shopping centers were all beginning to fizzle out. 2020 saw this begin to become even more noticeable as consumers were forced to shop online only when the world shut down. The trends of the past and the reality of COVID seemed to spell the end of in-person shopping as a segment of retail.
Credit: NIQ
However, the actual reality is that COVID could become the biggest revival Brick & Mortar stores could have. The nature of being forced to stay at home alone actually started the return to in-person shopping; people wanted to break free of what COVID had forced them into. They wanted a return to normalcy that they identified with nostalgia while trapped in their home. Consumers identified that memories they cherished often were connected to shopping in malls, or farmers markets, or local stores; it was not necessarily because it was better, but rather it provided an experience that online shopping never truly could. These facts marked the start of the return to stores,
But this was not what would create the new trend. Instead, it would be the rise in purchasing power amongst Gen Z consumers that would truly see this trend take shape. Gen Z is driving the return to in-person seeking not just purchases but the experience, community, and instant gratification of buying in the moment. Gen Z wants shopping to be available to them based on where they are, and most times, in-person becomes far more convenient than online to satisfy this within the consumer.
Credit: Nation Retail Federation
But the actual nature of this is not a rejection of online shopping but rather the consumer not caring how they shop. The community and experience are important to the Gen Z consumer, but the real reason they are returning is that they want to shop in a convenient way that is closest to them. If Gen Z wants to go to a specific store and the place they are in has that store, then they will shop in person; however, if the store is not near them, they will just shop online. It is seeing the consumer truly desire a real omni-channel experience, not just one that allows them to return goods they bought online in person.
But rather, Gen Z wants every good they see on the website to be obtainable in the store, and if they cannot go to the store, they are just as happy to purchase online. It is removing the stigma that you have to shop one way or the other, but rather shopping how is convenient for you in that moment. A Gen Z consumer is all about getting the products they want, regardless of how it happens. The trend is seeing brick & mortar stores revive themselves but it is not out of a rejection for online shopping and a return to nostalgia; instead, it is just shopping that works best for the consumer rather than the business. Gen Z is doing something no generation has done before in taking the power of consumerism into the hands of the consumer. The generation is requiring businesses to fit into what exactly they need and no longer letting businesses dictate how they shop.
