FUTURE
SHOPPERS
Engaging with 16–24
year old consumers
Samsung House, 1000 Hillswood Drive
Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0PS
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White paper
Future Shoppers
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Britain’s retail industry is in a state of flux. A
sector that has stood unchanged for decades
now finds itself subject to one of the swiftest
transformations ever seen. Mobile - and other
connected technologies - are fundamentally
redefining the retail landscape, ripping up
rulebooks and revolutionising the way we buy
from and engage with retail brands.
As this happens, a new generation of shoppers
is emerging, the first to be raised in this
internet-centric era. While today’s young
adults may not yet boast the purchasing
power of their elders, they are unique in being
the first generation to grow up in a world in
which eCommerce - and all of its associated
benefits - is the norm. They are, in every way,
digital natives.
Retailers have much to gain from
understanding these future shoppers. By
learning about what drives them now, we can
begin to predict not only how they will behave
in the future but also how to be ready to
engage them when we get there, too.
This report aims to do just that – provide
insight about the attitudes of one of the high
street’s biggest target demographics, which
can then inform strategic decision-making by
the retailers who serve them.
02
THE FUTURE SHOPPERS RESEARCH
To gain that understanding, we surveyed
1,000 16 – 24 year-olds from across the UK
on a range of issues relating to their shopping
habits both now and in the future.
The Future Shoppers Research, on behalf of Samsung,
was conducted by Opinion Leader amongst 1,001
UK individuals aged 16 – 24 years old, in a nationally
representative survey. The research was conducted
between 6th October 2014 – 13th October 2014.
Their responses, compiled here, provide a
definitive view on today’s young adults as they
start on the road to becoming the UK’s
Future Shoppers.
03
Future Shoppers
SPREADING THEIR WINGS:
THE RISE OF THE FINANCIALLY
INDEPENDENT YOUNG SHOPPER
£21 – £30
£51 – £100
£31 – £40
£11 – £20
£0 – £10
Laptop computer
Mobile phone
Desktop computer
While 44% have just £100 or less per month to spend
on themselves, after all living costs have been deducted,
around a third say that they have a monthly allowance of
between £100 and £300 for luxury items.
A particularly affluent 11% say they have as much as
£300 to £500 to spend each month, while 6% exceed
even the uppermost limits of that bracket, spending
more than £500 on luxury goods on a monthly basis.
£0 – £10
Jewellery
£11 – £20
Sports / Exercise
£21 – £30
£31 – £40
Gaming
£41 – £50
£51 – £100
Phablet
Buying Content
£101+
Tablet computer
(e.g. games or music
(downloads
Before we investigate the specifics of their finances, it’s
worth spending a moment on the circumstances of our
audience. As might be expected, many of them are in
full-time education, with almost three-quarters of those
interviewed noting that they are currently students.
£41 – £50
Buying Presents
Still learning, but forging a path towards
financial independence
£101+
Socialising
That has a range of implications for their relationship
with retail. After all, it’s during this time that they will
begin to gain true financial independence. While they
may have been influencing the purchase decisions of
their parents or guardians for years before, it’s now that
those decisions begin to become their own.
to assume that this limits their spending potential,
particularly when it comes to disposable income. But to
do so would be a mistake; overall, we see a broad spread
of liquidity.
Food
16-24 may be a well-recognised demographic, but it
also serves as one of the defining periods in any person’s
life. As a result, the actual span of that demographic is
gigantic, those eight years taking a person from their
final days at school into an unknown future.
While online might be the dominant channel for many
younger shoppers, high street stores still entice them
in, and many on a daily basis. 71% of 16-24s say that
they’ll drop into a bricks and mortar outlet to spend their
disposable income at least once a fortnight, with around
a quarter saying that they go shopping for luxury goods
daily or several times a week.
Figure 1: Spend by category in an average month
Perhaps more tellingly, over 30% balance their studies
with either part- or full-time employment. Just 6% are
unemployed, with the remainder working either partor full-time.
How they shop today
Jewellery
Sports / Exercise
Gaming
Cosmetics
Mobile Phones
Electronics
Clothes
With almost half of the sample either unemployed or
engaged solely in full-time education, it might be easy
Figure 3: When you shop
online, what device do
you use?
Daily
Several times a week
As could be expected from Gen Y, the primary outlet
for the majority of 16-24s is online. 40% say that they
tend to buy more over the internet than the high street
in an average month. That’s not to say that bricks and
mortar stores don’t have their place - they still remain
preferable for 26%, and the remaining 34% say that
their retail activity tends to be split evenly between the
two channels.
At least once a
At least once a fortnight
At least once a month
Less frequently
Never
Online
On the high
street/in-stores
Even split
between the two
Figure 4: How often do you
physically go into a shop
to buy something?
“Balance” is the key word here. While online shopping
is clearly the default for many, a huge number of 16-24
year-olds are present in stores on a near-daily basis.
That presents a clear opportunity for retailers of all
kinds and the trick, of course, lies in knowing how to
engage those shoppers in the right way no matter which
channel they opt for.
Figure 2: How do you tend to shop?
Perhaps more telling is the popularity of mCommerce.
While laptops are the most common device used to
make an online purchase (74%), mobiles are a clear
second, chosen by nearly half of those surveyed as a
frequent purchasing tool. This beats purchasing via
desktop computers and even tablets (both at 31%).
04
•
1/3 of 16–24s have between
£100–£300 a month to
spend on luxury items.
•
71% visit a retailer at
least once a fortnight
05
Future Shoppers
SOCIAL SHOPPING:
WHY ‘TRUE’ SHOPPING FOR YOUNG
ADULTS IS A SOLITARY ACTIVITY
Successfully engaging shoppers means understanding
as much as we can about their buying intentions; not
just when and where they shop, but why they’ve come
in the first place, and the kind of retail experience that
they’re looking for.
Retail shopping - on the high street, at least - is often
perceived as a sociable activity. Whether it’s meeting up
for a coffee and browsing through a few boutiques or
planning a whole day out in one of the UK’s burgeoning
number of mega-malls, shopping is rightly considered to
be an important social activity in many people’s lives.
There is, of course, a subtle difference between
shopping as a social activity and shopping as a process
of purchasing specific products, which we’ll come
back to.
Out with friends or going it alone?
We began by asking how often 16-24s visit large retail
environments such as shopping centres. 14% say that
they visit either daily or several times a week, with a
further 39% heading to large retail centres either weekly
or fortnightly. Around 27% visit at least once a month,
meaning that 80% of young adults are active in large
retail environments either monthly or more frequently.
Daily
Several times
a week
At least once
a week
At least once
a fortnight
At least once
a month
Les frequently
Never
Figure 5: How frequently do you visit large retail environments?
06
When they do visit, they often do so with specific
intentions in mind. Asked to cite their main reasons for
travelling to a shopping centre, just over half (51%) say
that they’re there to spend time with their friends and
socialise, with a quarter (25%) going to visit restaurants
or bars while there. Perhaps tied to this, a similar number
(52%) say they’re there mainly to browse the shops,
without looking for anything in particular.
•
62% go
shopping
for a specific
purchase
All of the above tie into the theme of shopping serving
primarily as a social pursuit. By far the biggest reason for
them to be there, though, is because they want to make
a specific purchase. 62% said this to be the case, with
36% noting that even if they’re not necessarily there
to buy on that day, they want to try an item out before
committing to it.
On my own
To Look for specific items
Friends
To browse (with no intention
of making a purchase)
Parents
To spend time with friends
/ socialise
Daily
Other family
members
To see the latest products
offered by retailers
To visit restaurants / bars
Figure 6: What are the main reasons for visiting large
retail environments?
That chimes well with their purchasing activity.
To clarify who is present when a purchase is made, we
asked respondents to state how likely they were to go
shopping for specific items with friends and family. While
some items appeal to the socially-minded - particularly
items like clothes, jewellery and cosmetics - in the
majority of cases young shoppers actually prefer to
shop alone.
Several times a week
At least once a week
To try out a product before
committing to a purchase
Siblings
At least once a fortnight
At least once a month
Partner / spouse /
boyfriend / girlfriend
Less frequently
Never
Figure 7: When you shop for specific items, who do you usually go with?
For our future shoppers, there are two “flavours” of
retail activity. The first seems to be a social, but largely
unmotivated activity. Large retail centres provide young
adults with a convenient place to meet and hang out
with friends. They may browse through shops and stop
for a drink or something to eat along the way, but they’re
unlikely to come away with anything more than time
well spent.
The other is a targeted and largely solitary activity.
Armed with a clear idea of what they want to buy and the
certainty that it’s the right product for them, our future
shoppers will head out to make that purchase alone.
07
Future Shoppers
PATH TO PURCHASE:
THE SOPHISTICATED BUYING HABITS
OF TODAY’S YOUNG SHOPPER
We know what our average 16-24 year old buys.
We know who they shop with. But just how do our future
shoppers decide what they’ll buy, or from where? What
influences them before they head out to buy, and what
keeps them engaged while they’re there?
When it comes to the first of those questions, research is
a big factor - both at home and when out shopping. 74%
of our future shoppers say that while they usually end
up buying a product online, they enjoy being able to see
it for themselves at a retail outlet before they commit.
And even when they’re out shopping, some 61% will use
their mobile to research a product they’re interested in.
There are several considerations here. Primarily, there’s
the now perennial issue of online vs. offline. While young
adults undoubtedly enjoy the tangibility that bricks and
mortar retail offers, giving them the chance to weigh up
their purchase, the subsequent thought that most then
wait until they’re home to buy online is problematic,
as it speaks to a missed opportunity. After all, there’s
no guarantee that they’re going to buy from the same
retailer they’ve viewed said product in.
The mobile issue presents opportunity and threat in
equal measure. On the one hand, it’s great that our
future shoppers are researching a potential purchase
while they’re in a position to buy. On the other, it’s less
so if they’re simply wondering if they can get it cheaper
over the internet, which 44% confess to doing.
To chat/message people
while you shop
To check the prices of the products
to see if they’re cheaper online
To take photos of products for
feedback from friends / family
To research the products that
you are seeing in store
To let friends / family know where you
are shopping so they can meet you
To upload to social networks
while shopping
I don’t use my mobile phone
when out shopping
To scan QR codes / use NFC
(where available)
Figure 8: On a typical shopping trip, how do you use your
mobile phone when you’re in-store shopping?
08
Indeed, price comparison is the second most popular
use for mobiles while 16-24 year-olds are out shopping,
only making way for chatting or messaging. While many
are using their phone to get more information on a
product (35%), or sending pictures to friends and family
for feedback (38%), price seems to drive their
behaviour here.
Already we see clear room for an intervention of
sorts, some action from the retailer that captures the
attention of a potential young buyer and keeps them on
course to make that purchase there and then, and this
suspicion is confirmed by the two-thirds (64%) who say
that they believe retailers could do more to keep them
interested in products when they’re already in store.
That represents a significant number who feel that
they’re being left - quite literally - to their own devices
while out shopping.
•
61% research products while out shopping
•
64% say that retailers could do more to keep
them interested when they’re already in-store
Technology is there, but is it working hard enough?
While we know that future shoppers are turning to their
own devices for advice and information, what about
in-store technology? What’s missing from the physical
retail environment to keep those young adults engaged,
and why does what is already there fail to prevent them
from treating shops as showrooms?
The major issue seems to be that functionality
outweighs any sense of excitement. While many 1624s use in-store tablets or computers to check stock
(50%) or browse through a virtual catalogue (47%), few
are using them for anything that truly enhances their
experience. QR codes are scanned by less than 20%
of young shoppers, with Augmented Reality (AR) apps
shunned by more than 90%.
It isn’t just the in-store technology from retailers that
misses the mark, though. Despite the seemingly everincreasing number of mobile apps available from highstreet retailers, 62% say that they “rarely” or “never” make
Most preferred
In-store options to personalise or
customise products
Receiving news of discounts and sales direct to your mobile
device as you walk past retailers you are interested in
In-store tablets that allow you to check stock
and place orders
Augmented reality that allows you to interact with the
products (e.g. super-imposing clothing on you as you browse
Interactive displays (e.g. large TV screens) that give you
more information about the retailer / products
Augmented reality (e.g. Blippar) to find
more information about the products.
Least preferred
Figure 10: Which of the following ideas would make your shopping experience better and more interesting??
use of those services when they are already out shopping.
In fact, retailer apps are more likely to be used at home.
While that doesn’t necessarily render them unfit for
purpose, it certainly suggests that more could be done
to connect young shoppers with a retailer’s online and
physical presence.
With nothing to engage them beyond being able to touch
and feel the product they are interested in, and with
no meaningful interaction from the retailer to prevent
them from leaving empty-handed, many young shoppers
essentially become lost customers the moment they step
through the door. Physical retailers give everything young
shoppers need to make a decision, but are essentially
teeing up another seller - probably online, and likely
offering the item cheaper - to swoop in and poach their
customer.
Young adults are highly sophisticated buyers. Having
done their research before and during their visit to the
retail environment, they then have the luxury of being
able to use stores as a kind of personal showroom,
validating their purchasing decisions and gathering
information before heading home to buy online.
LOOKING AHEAD:
CREATING A RETAIL ECOSYSTEM
FIT FOR FUTURE SHOPPERS
At this stage, it would be easy to become pessimistic
about the plight facing physical retail. A generation of
young shoppers - many of whom will go on to become
tomorrow’s big spenders - has been raised to use
bricks and mortar as little more than a stepping stone
to a purchase made online. Indeed almost two-thirds
(65%) of our future shoppers expect to do most of their
shopping online within the next five years.
All is not lost, however. The issue is not that young adults
don’t want high street retailers to step up to the mark,
just that they feel little is being done currently to meet
their expectations.
Something that comes through loud and clear is that
expectations are high. While they might be drawn
towards online, young adults are still expectant
that physical retailers will invest in making their
environments more exciting for a younger audience.
68% said that they expect retailers to “try something
new” in order to augment their retail space and make it
more appealing to this demographic.
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Future Shoppers
CONCLUSIONS
Those brands that choose to meet that expectation will
not go unrewarded, it seems. 44% of respondents say
that they will actively choose to visit those retailers who
enhance the shopping experience through technology,
and only a fifth said that they would not.
It may not be used to best effect today, according to
those surveyed, but that shouldn’t stop technology from
becoming a positive point of differentiation tomorrow.
Use technology pragmatically, but don’t be afraid to shine
To further investigate those issues around technology,
we asked what expectations our future shoppers
had specifically in relation to how it could be used to
enhance the shopping experience.
Asked which ideas might best help to improve their
shopping experience, for instance, most were split
between the thought of receiving discounts or other
offers to their mobile as they walk past a retailer
and the idea that they might have options in-store
to personalise or customise the product they are
interested in. These concepts are the most - and
equally - exciting to future shoppers.
In second place, and in line with what we see today, is
the addition of tablets to the retail environment to aid
with stock checking and order placement. And while
AR that simply provides more information on a product
was found to be largely unexciting by young adults, the
prospect of being able to virtually try on clothes with the
aid of AR mirrors is another popular suggestion.
Immediately, we see a balance between the desire for
pragmatic technology that has a positive impact on
the speed and fluidity of the purchasing process and
more visionary tech that helps to transform the retail
environment into a more interactive, engaging place.
The same is also true of retail apps. Asked what
elements of a smartphone app would be most
enticing should a retailer offer them, the focus was
almost exclusively on ideas that enhanced the instore experience. Vouchers or discounts (79%), stock
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availability (42%) and functionality that makes it easier
to buy an item in-store (34%) were all cited as the most
popular additions.
Augmenting the offline experience
While they may be relatively demanding, young
shoppers are also clear about what they what from highstreet retail. They’re craving the same kind of financial
stimulus (through offers or discounts) that they receive
online, as well as the transactional convenience they get
there. But they also love the things they can’t get online,
and want to see them expanded. From being able to see
a product being tailor-made for them, or testing styles in
front of virtual mirrors, the physical retail space and the
possibilities it offers continues to excite them.
More than anything, this speaks strongly to the need
for retailers to bridge the gap between their online
and offline identities. Both offer advantages, and the
imperative is to ensure that the advantages of each are
used effectively in order to create a contiguous buying
process that snares the loyalty of the shopper and
doesn’t let go.
Whether through NFC technologies, which simplify the
process of payment down to a simple tap, or beacon
signal-equipped in-store displays that push relevant
information and offers to shoppers’ mobiles, the offline
experience needs to complement the online experience
and vice versa, not attempt to recreate it.
Technology can play a huge role in helping that become a
reality, but technology for technology’s sake won’t cut it.
To truly appeal to the UK’s future shoppers, retailers need
to work hard to develop useful, exciting ideas that capture
not just a buyer’s imagination, but their loyalty too.
•
44% will actively visit retailers who
enhance the shopping experience
with technology
•
79% want technology to deliver
vouchers or discounts from
smartphone apps
When we set out to capture the thoughts of the next
generation of shoppers, we weren’t sure what we would find.
Very quickly, it became clear that we were dealing with
a segment that is defined not only by its affinity with
technology in all forms, but by a strong, well-informed
understanding of how the retail industry operates and
how it could better serve their needs.
With that in mind, we believe that retailers need to focus
on managing three key factors in order to successfully
engage the UK’s future shoppers.
1. Don’t underestimate the sophistication of
young buyers
While they might not boast the spending capacity of
their elders, the 16-24 year-olds of today will ultimately
come to shape the retail world of tomorrow. And there is
no mistake; tomorrow’s shoppers are confident, clever,
and ultimately highly complex.
As a result, the retail experience is becoming
increasingly non-linear, with multiple touchpoints
creating challenge and opportunity in equal measure.
Retailers that can successfully engage young shoppers
across the whole buying cycle - not just one or two
points along the way - will reap the dividends
2. Don’t just replicate the online experience
With online becoming the go-to standard for many
young shoppers, the temptation to try and transform
physical retail space into a real-world interpretation of
an online site is understandable. But to do so is to miss
the point of what future shoppers are really looking for.
16-24 year-olds have a clear understanding of the
individual benefits that each of these channels offers,
and are not looking to make a choice between one or
the other. Instead, they want unity between the two,
and a system that makes it easy to browse and buy no
matter where they are.
Those retailers that can provide this seamless
experience are most likely to gain the loyalty and
continued custom of tomorrow’s shoppers. Those that
don’t, run the risk of becoming outdated in the eyes of
this empowered demographic.
•
Retailers need to
provide a seamless
experience between
online and in-store
3. Use technology to be useful and stand out
Young adults are smart enough to see past attempts to
use technology as a way to make a store seem modern
or cool. Tech is viewed positively by this demographic,
but only when it is used constructively and with purpose.
Unless it makes their experience better - no matter
whether that is purely functional or in a wholly visionary
way - they are unlikely to engage.
Those retailers that can find the sweet spot of
providing technology that not only brings their physical
environment to life, but also provides young shoppers
with a compelling reason to use it, will enjoy the
benefits of a connected, engaged clientele - both now,
and in the future.
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