Gen Z to shop in-store for the holidays

Dive Brief:

Gen Z is headed to physical stores for the upcoming holiday shopping season, with 55% saying they'll do the majority of their holiday shopping at brick and mortar shops, according to a Shopkick survey emailed to Retail Dive. Fifty-four percent of Boomers said they will do most of their shopping in stores.
Research of nearly 30,000 shoppers found that across all generations half will complete the bulk of their holiday shopping in stores. But 84% will turn to mobile devices before making holiday purchases for research, price comparison, reviews, inspiration and other insights, the study found.
Forty-two percent of shoppers said that low prices are the top motivator for making purchases and 31% said free shipping was also a shopping incentive. Thirty-four percent of Shopkick respondents said they were spending money on electronics during the holiday season, followed by 21% who said they would shop for toys and 20% who said they would shop for apparel.

Dive Insight:

Shopkick’s research indicates that consumers will continue to do the majority of their holiday shopping in-store, a consumer habit retailers saw last year, too. But the survey findings also show that more shoppers are relying on their phones to find the information they need before making purchases, another indication that consumers are turning more to mobile devices for insights.

Another interesting data point from Shopkick’s research is that 54% of Baby Boomers and 55% of Gen Z shoppers will do their shopping mostly in brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season. However, 32% of millennials plan to do most of their holiday shopping on mobile phones, the report indicated. These findings appear to illustrate the importance of having a robust omnichannel strategy for reaching consumers across generations.

"For the majority of shoppers, this holiday shopping season isn’t about choosing between online and in-store," Shopkick CEO Adam Sand said in a statement. "Instead, we’re seeing more and more that shoppers want the best of both worlds. They enjoy in-store experiences, but they want those experiences to be enhanced — and they want their purchase decisions to be validated by using their phones to find inspiration, check their wishlists, and more."