Three Ways Gen Z is Reinventing Retail
From entry-level luxury, to live shopping beauty communities and being bougie in the metaverse, young consumers are shaping the future of shopping. For brands still struggling to understand why they need a Gen Z strategy, the answer is simple – they are transforming the rules of retail. From discovery through purchase and advocacy, habits have shifted from even just six months ago. Brands need to keep up with these changes and anticipate their evolution to innovate ahead of the competition.
The #cheapestthing hashtag on TikTok is being used by Gen Z consumers to showcase luxury discoveries within their price point. Views grew by 100k in the past week alone and feature finds from Chanel, Gucci, Prada, and Hermès. Products range from lip gloss to keychains, and skincare. Since social is all about storytelling, these moments make for ideal unboxing videos. With layers of fancy packaging that enable a slow reveal, these videos have become a popular way for the next generation of consumers to get their luxury fix without breaking the bank.
Given the passion young beauty enthusiasts have for reviews, authenticity and connecting with fellow fans, it’s no surprise startups like Newness and Supergreat are thriving by connecting these enthusiastic communities with brands. Between the two, Supergreat has the edge in terms of innovation and user experience. The app provides a short-form video-first community for content creators to review beauty products and earn “Supercoins” redeemable for products, many of which often sell out. With the pandemic having accelerated growth, users have created over 200,000 60-second review videos on approximately 35,000 products with an average of 4,000 uploads posted per week. The model brings together commerce, content and community in a unique way that strategic marketers across industries can learn from.
Anyone with a kid under 16 is likely all too familiar with games like Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox – but may not be aware how quickly commerce there is evolving. Roblox fans for example are now buying digital Gucci bags for thousands of dollars. Realizing the need for relevance with the fashionistas of the future, Gucci recently launched The Gucci Garden Experience. Here users could hang out in a virtual garden space and see their avatars appear as mannequins that absorb visual elements of the exhibition. Of course, users can also go shopping. One virtual purse went viral after being made available for just one hour. The piece features a chunky clip, along with a queen bee decal and sells for 475 Robux ($5.50). Since reselling is permitted on the platform, scarcity triggered the scalpers. By the end of the day the average price reached 134,257 Robux or roughly $1,578. This is more expensive than Gucci’s real-world Dionysus mini chain bag which sells for $1,350.
This article originally appeared in the May 25th, 2021 issue of Moving Image & Content’s agency newsletter. Subscribe here