Millennials and the customer experience: digital or nothing!
Zoomers, millennials, digital natives… all terms that refer to the new ultra-connected generations well-versed in online commerce and digital interactions. France estimates its millennials (or Gen Y), born between 1980 and 2000, to number over 13 million. They represent strong potential for companies but also a daunting challenge. These millennials, and the Gen Z that follows them, are a market that’s sometimes difficult to reach in an increasingly virtual and digitalized context.
The key challenge for brands today lies in understanding the expectations of these new generations to build lasting digital relationships with them.
Faced with this challenge, e-commerce players must embark on a long-term approach that places digitalization and customization at the heart of their customer strategies, really mastering social media.
Integrating digitalization in the long-term
Digitalization is no longer a trend but an established fact. Optimizing it must become part and parcel of customer strategies.
While we might expect the e-commerce sector to be one of the most advanced in this respect, this is not always the case. Indeed, before the crisis, many online brands were lagging behind in terms of digitalizing their customer experience because they had failed to prioritize strategies to optimize their interaction with customers.
Despite the acceleration effect brought about by the health crisis, many e-commerce players still tend to regard digitalization as important only in the short term. To win the loyalty of new generations, they must instead focus on a long-term approach in line with the expectations of these demanding, digital-savvy consumers whose habits are not limited to the current context.
Even if we can take digitalization as a given within the e-commerce sector, adapting it to new generations’ expectations and practices will make it an essential differentiating factor within their preferred channels for interaction. Social media is at the forefront here: the future of online sales and the customer experience is likely to be determined by interactions via these networks. Mastering them is, therefore, fundamental.
Mastering social media to build lasting relationships
The strong growth in the use of social media for personal and commercial purposes is driving brands to align their strategies with the habits and language of new generations.
This adaptation is an ever-changing challenge since millennials and post-millennials are incredibly flexible and agile, taking advantage of every new network. This makes them a commercial battleground: Instagram, Whatsapp, Twitter and, more recently, TikTok and ClubHouse, are new e-commerce spaces where optimizing the customer experience is a potential game-changer.
All brands that wish to engage or expand their online business must have a strong presence on these networks.
In this context, mastering social media helps ensure that customer interactions are personalized. The communication of many brands on these platforms demonstrates this: some companies – including major French groups – make networks like Twitter a real extension of their customer service. They draw upon the accessibility of social media and the fact that it enables them to respond quickly to a large number of requests in a personalized manner.
Responsive “community managers” able to communicate clearly and often employ humour when managing requests is a decisive differentiating factor, demonstrating a strong focus on customers and guaranteed to attract generations well-versed in the digital realm.
Lasting relationships of trust underpin these strategies. Millennials and Gen Z are generally more changeable in their buying behaviour compared to older generations. Accustomed to immediacy, they’re also more sensitive to brand values, from which they can rapidly turn away. Conversely, when they truly appreciate a brand, they’re quick to spread the word about their preferences. Gaining the confidence of these new generations more receptive to originality and authenticity is a guaranteed return on investment. A functional approach to social media, personalized management of each point of contact with customers and more flowing interactions are thus necessary to secure their trust and long-term loyalty.
Are we likely to see a “return to roots” in coming years, with online sales platforms abandoned in favour of stores? Or will consumers instead maintain their online habits, appreciating the convenience of e-commerce, to which many of us have become accustomed during the health crisis?
The challenge will remain the same: getting to know and securing the loyalty of increasingly connected, volatile and demanding generations. Progress made before and during the pandemic in going digital and optimizing customer pathways should not, therefore, be taken for granted. In the realm of the millennials, it’s the companies that succeed in making their long-term strategies flexible who will come out on top.
Article published by Alliancy on July 15, 2021.