[New report] Strategies To Engage & Sell to Gen Z
Mar 19, 2022
This PSFK How-To will help brands and retailers understand and engage Generation Z customers, with additional insights around brand experience transformation.
Gen Z, the first truly digitally native generation, are used to moving seamlessly between the online and offline worlds, freely expressing themselves across platforms and in real-life interactions. Generation Z, the generation of consumers born between 1995 and 2014, has come of age during an unprecedented period of technological evolution, demographic shifts, and changing cultural norms, many of which they are leading.
According to PSFK's Gen Z's Consumer Survey 2022, 57% of the Gen Z audience surveyed seeks out like minded community online who share their passions. This freedom allows them to view the world through a unique lens, making creativity and open-mindedness second nature and rendering old constructs and binary norms irrelevant.
Quite simply, this is how they grew up… as a generation that is able to adapt to new tech and is simultaneously creator and consumer. Their values can be highlighted with buzz words like authenticity, transparency, empowerment, customization and personalization. An overwhelming 71% of Gen Z we surveyed indicate their preference for brands and retailers that not only optimize profit, but are also focused on community.
In our previous report about this generation, we focused on how brands and retailers needed to adapt to engage and serve this audience. However, the new experiences being built now not only cater to Gen Z, but they are being built by Gen Z in their own vision. This report studies:
- DAOs as digital coops with distributed responsibilities and egalitarian ambitions
- NFTs that offer new forms of community ownership
- Blockchain tech which is predicated on a publicly available general ledger offers new levels of transparency
- AI tools that allow for personalization at scale
- New ways of working that embrace more flexible, and ‘human’ approaches to work have broken out of the strictures of the 9-to-5
Ultimately within this report, PSFK provides brands and retailers with a framework that helps them to make sense of this new landscape, with guide posts around brand experience transformation and ways in which they should continue to evolve in order to engage with this new generation of consumers.
Watch the Accompanying Webinar with Expert Analysis on Gen Z Engagement
Levi’s Turns To Next-Gen Bots For Labor Efficiencies
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Iconic denim retailer Levi Strauss & Co. is leveraging bot technology across its operations as it pilots shifting labor resources to higher-value initiatives.
Animatico Is Improving Customer Interactions With AI-based Avatars
Mar 26, 2022
By combining artificial intelligence and voice control technology with fun, engaging and customizable avatars, Animatico creates seamless interactions for store and brand customers and visitors.
Alpha’s Clienteling App For Luxury Brands Is An Exclusive, Modern Way To Shop
Mar 26, 2022
Digital personal service platform Alpha is reinventing the way luxury brands and their shoppers interact.
[New report] AI-Enhanced Customer Service
Mar 26, 2022
In this guide, PSFK explains how brands and retailers can use AI to deliver greater value to their customers, develop stronger relationships and ultimately drive loyalty.
Looking across the retail landscape, the concept of “anywhere commerce” has arisen from a set of consumer expectations that prioritize convenience, ease, seamless connectivity and relevance wherever they choose to shop. This is especially important given the expanding range of customer touchpoints that now encompass physical storefronts, company websites, mobile apps, social media and gaming platforms.
To meet shoppers with the elevated level of service and experience they now expect, companies are prioritizing AI, machine learning and data. Together these technologies enable companies to scale 1:1 support 24 hours a day and deliver new levels of personalization. When combined with the capabilities of human associates, these solutions can power greater efficiencies and enhance overall CX.
Throughout the end-to-end shopper journey, the role of AI has graduated from the basic chatbot to now personify a top sales, marketing and support agent. Advancements in empathetic AI, conversational commerce and natural language processing have all allowed for more humanistic AI experiences. Further, businesses are taking a more considered approach while training AI models and algorithms, centering inclusivity, and prioritizing a wider view of needs to deliver an overall improved experience for all of their customers.
In this report, PSFK researchers have identified six strategies that unpack the AI opportunity across customer service processes. Supported by best-in-class examples from the marketplace, learn how leading brands and retailers are delivering greater value to their customers, developing stronger relationships and ultimately driving loyalty. #ai-2 #customer-service #macys
[New report] Product Drop Strategy
Apr 01, 2022
In this guide, PSFK presents strategies for retailers and brands to leverage as they develop their own services, platforms and tools to support next-gen drop experiences.
Placing brands at the center of culture, commerce and community, the drop has established itself as an effective brand building tool across both IRL and digital environments. As brands consider today’s retail landscape, where omnichannel and cross-world shopping have become mainstream behaviors, the role of the drop has taken on new importance in helping to not only differentiate brand experiences but also establish an ongoing value exchange with consumers.
To cultivate community, inspire loyalty and deliver against this new value proposition, innovative brands and retailers are repositioning the drop as a multipronged touchpoint, leveraging the model as a method to continuously reward consumers for their engagement. For brands and retailers, this comes to life through dedicated channels that combine live drop events and daily programming, services and tools that provide 1:1 support in procuring limited-edition items on behalf of consumers, and virtual drops and tokens that carry both digital value and redeemable physical goods and services.
Within this report, PSFK researchers have identified six strategies for retailers and brands to leverage as they develop their own services, platforms and tools to support next-gen drop experiences. Supported by best-in-class examples of innovation from the marketplace, understand how leaders are tapping into cross-channel activations to engage consumers, sell products and ultimately build loyalty.
Discord “Cook Groups” Give Streetwear Fans The Inside Track On Drops
Apr 03, 2022
“Cook group” servers on Discord are helping sneakerheads “cop the best drops” and increasingly dictating the realities of the multi-billion dollar streetwear resale market.
MoonPay Concierge Service Helps Members Purchase NFTs
Apr 03, 2022
Fintech company MoonPay offers a crypto ‘concierge service’ that handles the sourcing and purchasing of digital collectables and blockchain-based assets.
Adidas NFT Drop Promises Access To IRL Goods
Apr 03, 2022
The Adidas NFT collection, called Into The Metaverse, also comes with exclusive access to physical streetwear drops and apparel products which will be released to NFT owners in phases.
[New report] Retailing for Profit and Purpose
Apr 09, 2022
A How-To for retailers and brands to engage audiences, drive revenues and deliver social impact through better processes and practices.
Consumers are increasingly aligning their progressive values with their purchasing decisions, driving companies to rethink their operations and retail and marketing efforts. Top of mind for shoppers are how organizations are driving meaningful change through sustainability initiatives and DEI efforts. It's now critical that businesses think beyond messaging about social impact as their customers are ready to hold them accountable for lack of follow through or by running campaigns that lack authenticity and transparency.
Across the commerce landscape, businesses are reexamining their end-to-end offering from sourcing and product design to internal representation and logistics to embed measurable social impact at every stage. Companies are also developing new business models and platforms to empower customers and partners to get involved and drive collective action. Beyond creating positive change, these initiatives must now be viewed as a true differentiator in an increasingly competitive marketplace. When effectively implemented, these efforts can enable operational efficiencies and open the door to new revenue streams, creating value for consumers, companies and their workforce, and the planet.
In this report, discover how leading retailers and brands are innovating through better processes and practices. Learn how intrinsic motivation to prioritize social, cultural, and environmental responsibility, enables businesses to not only navigate shifting consumer expectations and marketplace change, but lead the way with responsibility and empathy, and understand how profit and purpose can be intertwined to drive growth.
Ecologi Offsets Helps Businesses And Individuals Take On The Climate Crisis
Apr 10, 2022
The environmental subscription service creates custom carbon offset plans tailored to both enterprise and family sustainability needs and impact goals, and wants to mitigate 50% of global CO2 emissions by 2040.
Walmart Canada Goes Carbon-Neutral For Last Mile Delivery
Apr 10, 2022
By partnering with EcoCart, Walmart becomes the first major Canadian retailer to offer carbon-neutral last-mile delivery for its customers’ ecommerce orders, including online grocery delivery.
Innovative Payment Providers Are Incentivizing Green Spending
Apr 10, 2022
Visa, Mastercard, and other financial platforms are rewarding their users’ climate-smart spending and shopping by integrating tools from companies like Future and Doconomy into their payment offerings to better educate and inspire consumers around sustainability.
[New report] Reframing the Store-as-a-Service
Apr 16, 2022
A PSFK Guide for brands and retailers to help them generate new revenue streams, cultivate brand community, boost traffic and dwell time, and strengthen consumer loyalty.
After two years of rapid acceleration, e-commerce is cooling off as consumers look to trade convenience and utility for the sensory experiences and connections that can be found within physical stores.
As consumers deal with digital fatigue, retailers and brands are luring them back through a new host of IRL services, experiences and tools. From discovery to post-purchase needs, retailers are layering in everything from brand activations, to on-demand access to subject matter experts and full lifestyle programming in order to better connect with consumers beyond digital clicks. While the role of the store has evolved, the ways people shop has been radically impacted, and as shoppers head back into stores, they have new expectations around service (i.e. personalization, expertise, immersive browsing) that are setting the stage for the next chapter of retail.
In this report, PSFK iQ researchers analyze how leading retailers are rethinking their offerings, and catering services to generate a new revenue stream, cultivate brand community, boost traffic and dwell time, and strengthen consumer loyalty. To differentiate themselves and drive consumer interaction, retailers need to reconsider the store’s role within their brand ecosystem, and how they can leverage their physical footprint to better support consumers and their communities. Through the lens of six innovative strategies, understand the evolution of physical spaces, and examine how retailers in different verticals are leveraging and designing services that organically complement their ethos and product assortment.
Wellness Social Clubs Are The Hot, New Member Community
Apr 16, 2022
Casa Cipriani, Zero Bond, name an East Coast members-only club that’s sprung up recently and it seems like everyone, or at least the New York mayor, is prancing around them. The West Coast’s answer? A notched up A-list, and a wellness-centered member experience that’s more kombucha than cocktail.
IKEA And H&M Open Up Atelier100 “Ideas Factory” For Creatives In London
Apr 16, 2022
The two Swedishgiants hope the joint retail venture, which invites small-scale artists to apply for grants and develop new products, will serve to develop and incubate future ways of retailing.
The inaugural set of Savage X Fenty brick and mortar locations from musician and billionaire businesswoman Rihanna use Fit:Match technology to offer customers a seamless, AI-powered product fit experience.
Ulta Beauty And Haut.AI Partner For Tech-Powered Hyper Personalization
Apr 23, 2022
Target Teams Up With Apple For Special Employee Shop-In-Shop Training
Apr 23, 2022
To provide an enhanced Apple product shopping experience for its customers, Target is giving its own employees and team members specialized training in concert with the Cupertino giant.
How Reformation Creates A Service-Oriented Experience For Customers In-Store
Apr 23, 2022
The sustainable clothing and accessories brand is finding success by leveraging next-generation clienteling tools, technologies, and techniques to elevate the customer experience.
A PSFK Guide for brands and retailers to help them grow sales and enhance consumer experience through the use of clienteling tools.
Over the past few years, the expectations of modern shoppers have evolved just as rapidly, if not more so, than the retail landscape itself. In order to transact and win loyalty from this new wave of consumers, potentially wary of swapping the convenience and personalized clienteling of online commerce for an in-store shopping experience, retailers are combining best-in-class digital personalization tools with holistic, cross-channel clienteling services to better elevate the customer experience across key pre-and-post-purchase touchpoints.
Leading retailers are engaging their shoppers with 1:1 education and support around purchase decisions, drawing from successful ecommerce customer profile learnings to leverage data-backed insights on customer preferences and behavior patterns; as well as tapping innovative platforms and tools like AI, app, chat, video, and more to deliver high-touch, personalized shopping experiences across channels. Through accurate and scalable in-the-moment support, companies are finding they can generate not only greater value, but also customer satisfaction, confidence and loyalty. The ability to meet shopper expectations with omnichannel support solutions, intelligent curation, frontline expertise, cross-platform membership offerings, and more tailored offerings will be an increasingly important driver of retail success going forward.
Within this report, PSFK iQ researchers explore the ways top retailers and brands are super-charging their clienteling engagements through cross-channel tools that drive enhanced CX and develop meaningful relationships with high-value customers. Within the trends and supporting examples, discover the retail technology, personalized customer service solutions, and key clienteling strategies catering to the elevated consumer needs and expectations of today. #clienteling
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