41% of Gen Z and Millennials make an impulse purchase online every 2-3 weeks

It’s estimated that 2 in 5 younger consumers make regular impulse purchases. Earlier physical stores were primary source of impulse buying. Now virtual stores are playing an equally crucial role as 41% of Gen Z and Millennials make an impulse purchase online every 2-3 weeks, indicates a GWI study. The number rises to 48% among daily TikTok users. For perspective, this drops to 10% among Baby Boomers.

To inspire their customers to act on instinct, especially as inflation continues to bite, it’s important that retailers understand what drives this consumer buying behaviour. As the standard set of search tools varies a lot between generations, their motivations for impulse buying are quite different. So, even as more start searching for products and services on platforms, marketers will need to tweak their approach depending on who they’re targeting.

“The content on TikTok can’t be repurposed for Instagram or LinkedIn,” stated Ibrahim Abudyak, CEO & Co-founder of a Dubai-based unconventional entertainment concept called The Smash Room. “We’ve people aged from 15 to 65 coming to The Smash Room. So, we’ve had to think of a way to communicate with different audiences across different platforms.”

Impulse buying isn’t purely practical among older consumers, and many do add last-minute surprises to their cart just because they fancy a treat. But deals and whether they have a clear use case for an item matter more to them. Social media ads directed at older groups can therefore afford to be more product or information-focused – akin to search engines.

On the other hand, younger consumers tend to make impulse purchases for a wider range of reasons like recommendations from their online community or flexible payment options. And convenience is worth underlining, as it’s partly why they search for products on social apps in the first place.

Easy or quick online checkout processes (34%) and social media ‘buy’ buttons (21%) are common reasons Gen Z and Millennials give for impulse buying. However, businesses need to build their online shopping experience around the expectations that social media searches are setting the scene for a dynamic, quick and inspirational adventure.

In this context, Ana Elisa Seixas, Head of Marketing, ASICS pointed out the importance of creating real and authentic stories “As marketers we must build an emotional connection with the consumer around the product. In our case, we’ve been doing that through our social media platforms. Also, by collaborating and creating genuine connections with influencers who are real ambassadors of sports.”