How Gen Z Views Retail Shopping After the Pandemic SELFHOOD is a market research agency that prides itself on our next-gen insights. We’ve always looked towards the future: Youth, passion, game-changers, mould-breakers. But, ever since 2020, that has left many uncertainties and concerns wide open. As we look forward and consider how our world has changed after the Pandemic, businesses also need to reconsider how they will interact with their young audiences going forward. Consumer behaviours have been affected by the experience across the board. Especially physical retail stores have to reconsider how they will appeal to their audience after the pandemic. After all, online shopping has become the norm for the vast majority of customers. Smaller local stores can’t meet the convenience of online shopping. But according to our NextGen Insights, retail stores have something else to offer to young customers.
Gen Z and Physical Retail Physical retail had nearly vanished from our daily lives for several long months across the last few years. Where non-essential retail stores had to close their doors, more and more businesses moved online and embraced digitalisation. Now that many countries have fully eased their regulations and returned to a new normal, things are changing yet again. You might think that young people would appreciate the increasing comforts of online shopping above all else. But after a long time of little social contact, Gen Z is looking forward to returning to physical stores. It’s essential to understand how Gen Z values their local brands in comparison to older generations. Most importantly, the buying decision and research about a brand often occur before visiting the store and online. Therefore, Gen Z comes to stores already fully prepared and view the visit to local brands as a social excursion. It allows them to disconnect from social media and be present.