Why small businesses need to sell online, specially to younger people
TO CAPTURE CONSUMER SALES, small businesses need to sell online. Businesses with a brick-and-mortar store need to sell both online and in-person.
That is the conclusion in a new survey of shopping habits in the latest GoDaddy Consumer Pulse* survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers polled in March.
The survey finds that the shopping habits of Gen Z and Millennials are changing the landscape of commerce. Younger consumers will abandon shopping carts for digital wallets.
Their shopping methods allow them to avoid other people, the study finds. They therefore prefer Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store, self-checkout or online shopping, over shopping methods that let them interact with others.
Younger consumers' priorities appear to starkly contrast with older generations. The new data shows night-and-day differences in the ways these younger generations shop.
- Bots over humans: 15% of Gen Z and 10% of Millennials prefer talking to a chatbot over a human customer service representative, compared with 3% of Gen X and Boomers.
- Curbside pickup or bust: The majority of Gen Z (86%) and Millennials (76%) purchase items online for in-store or curbside pickup at least once a month, with one in four Gen Z (23%) and Millennials (27%) doing so weekly. This is in contrast to half of Gen X and Boomers (51%) who never purchase items online to pick up at or in the store.
- Budgetless shopping: About four in 10 Gen Z (39%) and Millennials (43%) have used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) to purchase items they couldn't afford, compared with 22% of Gen X and Boomers. Only 16% of consumers have never used BNPL.
- Working hard or hardly working? Gen Z and Millennials shopping habits know no time bounds, particularly during the workday. Half of Gen Z (54%) and Millennials (50%) report they shop online while at work, compared with only 18% of Gen X and Boomers.
- Digital wallets > credit cards: 54% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials have skipped completing a purchase due to a business not accepting digital wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, compared with Gen X or Boomers (17%). 1 in 10 (10%) Gen Z use their phones only to pay for items when shopping in-person, with 5% of Gen Z reporting they don't even carry a physical wallet anymore. In contrast, more than one in four (27%) Gen X and Boomers have never used digital wallets.
- Big or little lies? Around one in four Gen Z (27%) and Millennials (25%) said they have lied to be able to return an item they purchased, compared with 11% of Gen X and Boomers.
"Gen Z and Millennials want to shop online from their phones and be left alone, which makes providing an automated, personalized, yet hands-off experience for consumers all the more vital," says Alex Avramenko, head of commerce growth at GoDaddy.
"Is your online store truly mobile-friendly? Is it easy to find options for digital wallet payments or in-store pickup? These aren't just trends. Consumers have consistently shown their desire for simple, convenient ways to shop and pay will make or break a sale, and small businesses need to adopt this new vision of what doing business looks like."
The different generations do agree on some things.
- POS devices could be more user-friendly: More than half (51%) of consumers have felt anxious when paying for items in-person because of the point-of-sale (POS) device at the checkout, most commonly because they weren't sure how to use the device. This was felt more strongly by younger consumers, with 66% of Gen Z and 58% of Millennials and 44% of Gen X and Boomers feeling anxious at checkouts.
- The physical wallet still reigns in retail: When shopping in-person, most consumers (59%) report carrying a physical wallet and exclusively paying with physical credit cards. However, 41% of consumers at least occasionally use their phone to pay for goods in-person.
- Death of the laptop: More than half (56%) of consumers choose to use their phone when making larger online purchases of $150 or more, whereas only 36% would use their laptop, and just 8% prefer a tablet. Younger consumers are slightly more likely to prefer to shop on their phones, with 70% of Gen Z and 63% of Millennials preferring to pay via a smartphone, vs. 49% of Gen X and Boomers.
- Parking is not a dealbreaker: Most consumers (61%) said a lack of easy parking nearby does not factor into whether they will shop at a store. Although some people care about parking a lot. Four in 10 shoppers (39%) report that they will not shop at a store that doesn't have easy parking nearby.
Actionable advice on how to sell online effectively
RAPID CHANGES in where and how people live, work, and do business in recent years have triggered major shifts in how customers shop for and buy virtually everything. Sales and marketing professionals are faced with the harsh reality of rethinking their entire approach to engaging clients in today’s virtual marketplace—or risk quickly becoming irrelevant. They need to rethink their entire sales approach—and Digital Selling Handbook shows them how to do it.
This comprehensive guide builds readers’ understanding of customer psychology and buying behavior in the new digital-first world. It provides best practices for engaging customers using a variety of methods. Digital selling expert and founder of Sales Excellence, Inc., Bill Stinnett covers the entire sales and marketing process, showing how to:
- Create a magnetic personal brand that attracts prospective customers
- Engage customers earlier in the buying process
- Develop an evergreen lead machine using strategies of world-class organizations
- Write articles, emails, and social media posts that trigger customer action
- Find and create new opportunities through outbound prospecting
- Turn customer conversations into sales opportunities and revenue