How Important Is The Internet To Today’s Young Shoppers?

All week long, the Canadian POS Corporation Blog has been taking a look at the shopping patterns of today’s younger generation. We’ve examined studies that show that millennials love both gift cards and online shopping. Research has also shown that they are savvy bargain hunters who browse items online before visiting physical store locations to make purchases. Evidently, the internet is integral in today’s business world.

How important is it to advertise your business online? Well, let’s consider the fact that social media have become today’s most popular ways for people to communicate with others all over the world. Through such platforms as Facebook and Twitter, young people regularly communicate everything from their innermost thoughts to their favourite songs, movies, food and sports. Using social media to advertise, therefore, has practically become a must for business owners.

On Entrepreneur.com, Peter Gasca reveals the findings of a 2015 Blackhawk Engagement Solutions study that highlights the connection that millennials have to social media. “They are using it as their primary source to find and hear about products, special deals and shopping news,” he reports, “The study also found that the traditional methods of advertising, television (six) and print media (seven), both fall behind other digital advertising methods.”

Where do millennials go to compare prices? According to the Blackhawk Engagement Solutions study, Google and Amazon are favourites for comparing prices. As we noted in our last blog, the study highlights the fact that millennials most often use their smartphones in order to locate product information online. It’s important to reiterate the need for business owners to have mobile-friendly websites.

“Amazon (46 percent) and Google (43 percent) dominate millennials\’ preference for price comparison activities,” informs Gasca, “Love it or hate it, the reality is that millennials (and more so older generations) are using mobile devices to price compare and save, even while in your store or on your website. To compete, retailers need either to offer competitive pricing or more value than consumers can get on Amazon, Google or other large retail outlets.”

How do millennials prefer to pay for their purchases online? To answer that question, we should revisit our last two blogs. To remind you, they covered the research that has found that both gift cards and e-commerce are hugely popular with the members of our younger generation. So, it should come as no surprise that millennials enjoy using their gift cards to make their online shopping purchases. They are believed to be the “safe” choice.

“Millennials are sensitive to cyber security issues and identity fraud, and 64 percent of millennials believe that gift cards are safer to use online than any other digital payment method,” says Gasca, “Moreover, 66 percent believe gift cards limit identity fraud. By offering gift cards or alternative payment options, such as Paypal, retailers can attract sensitive buyers who are looking for alternatives to Amazon.”

At Canadian POS Corporation, our experience with Canadian business owners aligns with the findings of the surveys we’ve been examining this week. We are firm believers that Canadian business owners should invest in the selling of gift cards in their stores while offering e-commerce solutions to their customers.

For more information about how to begin selling gift cards and/or setting up your online store through our e-commerce solution, please call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.