Shopping – ‘The Youth of Today’

Online vs in-store shopping – Girl vs Boy opinion.

We’ve taken a view from our younger team members on how they shop and why the high street is in danger of further decline.

Cristina: “Born between the mid-’90s and 2015 ( or thereabouts ), we are part of Generation Z; the most tech-savvy consumer group. Everything is digital for us, whether it’s digital networking, social media or simply just shopping online. We’re so consumed by digital that it can often stop us from doing things in the real world. As a ‘Gen Z’ girl currently doing an apprenticeship, I honestly do not have the time to go to shops.  I am free at the weekends, yes, fair point; but why would I want to spend half of my time in a store looking for my size or looking for someone who can help me? Even if I eventually find something I like, why would I want to queue outside the fitting rooms and then wait again to pay? I would much rather stay in the comfort of my bed, browsing online for clothes I would like to purchase. The websites are user-friendly, easy to navigate with the benefit of immediately knowing if they have my size in stock. The clothes get delivered to my house, often the next day! What more could a girl want? No waiting in queues, visibility of stock availability and an easy return process if I want to send things back. If stores had better customer service, fewer queues and more sizes available then yes, maybe I could find the time to go to the store instead of doing all my shopping online.”

Ridhwan: “As a ‘Gen Z’ boy my opinion on shopping is quite different. Whilst there are a vast number of different Retailers available, I still don’t feel attracted to the concept of shopping. Well known retailers are constantly innovating with new and expensive interactive store technologies, however, I would only try these new ‘gadgets’ out of curiosity. Technology for technology’s sake would not necessarily change my shopping behaviour or encourage me to shop more. The process of buying has always been the same for me; I queue up at the counter or I click a button online and wait for a delivery, either way works for me. Sure, something like AmazonGo would be nice; just pick up an item and leave the store (technology automatically taking payment for my purchase), but if I really want to buy something I am happy to wait in a queue for 30 minutes and I still leave the store feeling excited with my purchase. However, my problem is actually finding something I like. It’s quite hard to find clothes that both look good and fit in the way I want them to. I could literally fit into either a Medium, Large or Extra-Large, each fitting me in a different way, giving me a different look and a different social persona. Sounds simple enough I guess, but wait, we have Regular Fit, Tailored Fit, Slim fit, Muscle Fit, Oversize, just to name a few. So what do I do now? Which one am I supposed to wear, which one is the trendiest or the smartest, which one actually looks good on me? Are these clothes based on my height and build? Who knows? I suppose our clothes express our personality and having the freedom to decide what we wear allows us to choose how we are perceived as individuals, whether it be intentional or not. Ultimately, there are millions of styles and combinations to choose from but I don’t remember the last time I saw something and genuinely thought: “I really want to buy this”. I wish I could wear more technology, technology is easy to buy. You look at the best specs in your price range and that’s what you buy. Simple.”