Dive Brief:
- Indicating the importance of social commerce, more than half (55%) of Gen Z shoppers have bought items online while browsing social media in the last six months, a new survey of 2,233 U.S. adults by Walmart and Morning Consult found. By contrast, only 38% of shoppers overall did the same.
- While 44% of Gen Z shoppers begin their shopping journey via online searches, roughly four in ten start their shopping browsing in stores (42%), visiting retailers’ mobile apps or websites (40%) and checking social media (38%), the survey found.
- About half (49%) of survey respondents said they would buy more clothes if they could access “great virtual try-on” tools, per the survey.
Dive Insight:
Walmart’s report centers around understanding the Adaptive Retail era, which it defines as a “form of retail that brings shopping to the customer in exactly the way they want and need,” per a company statement. To delve into the subject, the retailer commissioned Morning Consult to conduct its first survey on the subject and indicated it will revisit the topic annually.
“We’re in a new era of retail defined by profoundly personal shopping experiences. Each shopper defines how, where and when they obtain goods, and context is key. The Why behind the purchase,” Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s global chief technology officer and chief development officer, said in a statement. “Retailers must predict shoppers’ needs, reduce decision-making and enable highly personal experiences. Future retail success depends on how well we anticipate and meet these evolving expectations.”
Walmart forecasts that retailers that can predict individual customer needs and deliver personalized suggestions at the correct moment will succeed.
The big-box retailer is reaching out to meet younger consumers by experimenting with new digital shopping experiences. In May, the company introduced Walmart Realm, an immersive shopping platform where shoppers can browse virtual environments and buy the items within them. The company also introduced a Walmart Discovered Roblox experience last fall that allowed players to access virtual departments across the beauty, sports and pet categories on the gaming platform.
Walmart has also been making changes to its product assortment with millennials and Gen Z shoppers in mind. Among the new brands Walmart has debuted recently are the oral care brands Plus Ultra and Zimba, along with the personal care brand Clean Age. The retailer this summer revived one of its largest private labels, “No Boundaries,” aimed at Gen Z, and relaunched the label on its Walmart Discovered experience on Roblox.
Walmart-owned Sam’s Club has seen its Gen Z and millennial customer base jump in recent years. Over the past two years, Gen Z Sam’s Club memberships spiked by 63%, and millennials rose by 14%. Hana Ben-Shabat, founder of Gen Z Planet, attributes the retailer’s growth in part to its “seamless integration between online and offline.”