[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/07\/27\/how-to-win-customers-for-life\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/07\/27\/how-to-win-customers-for-life\/","headline":"Gen Z and Generation Alpha rising: How brands can win customers for life","name":"Gen Z and Generation Alpha rising: How brands can win customers for life","description":"Gen Z is the current powerhouse in the retail space, but brands are already sizing up the next generation of shoppers. With Gen Alpha, it's a chance to start early and win customers for life. ","datePublished":"2022-07-27","dateModified":"2023-10-05","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/ratul-shah\/#Person","name":"Ratul Shah","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/ratul-shah\/","identifier":305,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18781ab115e32031df4d1cbc3baffb8fb9bc77288c20e05eb447f4e9739062f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18781ab115e32031df4d1cbc3baffb8fb9bc77288c20e05eb447f4e9739062f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Gen-Alpha_2022_FTR.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Gen-Alpha_2022_FTR.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/07\/27\/how-to-win-customers-for-life\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/cdp-customer-data-platform-solution\/cdp-customer-data-platform-general\/","name":"CDP: Customer Data Platform","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_data_platform"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/cdp-customer-data-platform-solution\/","name":"CDP: Customer Data Platform","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_data_platform"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-data\/","name":"Customer Data","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_data","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q56278300"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},"Customer profiles: Customer Identity + Access Management (CIAM) for B2B and B2C",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/e-commerce\/","name":"E-Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"]},"Future of Grocery Retail","Future of Supply Chain",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/marketing-general\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},"Retail Trends, Data, News"],"wordCount":1182,"keywords":["Brand Engagement","Brand Loyalty","CDP | Customer Data Platform","Customer Data Strategy","Customer Engagement","Customer Loyalty","Generation Alpha","Generation Z","Retail Trends"],"articleBody":"Life lessons are everywhere \u2013 my nine-year-old daughter learned one on Mother’s Day. We wanted to get her mom an amazing gift, and thought ordering five weeks ahead was enough lead time. Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t know the item was out of stock. The gift didn\u2019t arrive until three weeks after Mother\u2019s Day. The experience left a bad impression on my Generation Alpha daughter.\u00a0She didn’t make the same mistake for Father\u2019s Day. Instead, she made sure to shop only at websites that could show delivery windows. My gift arrived on time, and my daughter knows where she’s shopping in the future. \u00a0Gen Z is the current powerhouse in the retail space, but brands are already sizing up the next generation of shoppers. With Gen Alpha, it’s a chance to start early and win true brand advocates.Generation Alpha consumers were born beginning in 2010. Individuals born through 2025 fall into this generation, which follows Gen Z (born between 1995 and 2009).      Real customers, engaged with your brand: Enter data authentication                In a cookieless future, data authentication is key to creating customer relationships and understanding the intent of collected data in downstream systems.      How to win customers for life: From data insights to demand signals\u00a0As brands prepare for younger shoppers like Generation Z and Generation Alpha, the days of simple segments are fading fast. In their place, successful retailers are prioritizing customer centricity and business agility. \u00a0To win customers for life, they\u2019re learning more about each customer at every touch point:Who they are\u00a0Channel, device, and communication preferences\u00a0Context of their interactions\u00a0Then, with this foundation of identity and permission-based data, brands are working to create rich customer profiles that form the basis for their overall business strategies. The goal is to connect supply, demand, and customer satisfaction.\u00a0\u00a0This pursuit is not new and has had many names: a single source of truth, the 360-degree customer view, a common data model, the holistic customer profile, etc. Yet as customer data grows in volume, variety, and velocity, the finish line continues to move farther away.\u00a0\u00a0As proof, a recent study by Harvard Business Review, sponsored by SAP, found that 79% of the organizations surveyed had plans to implement a common data model, but only 13% have successfully done so.\u00a0      Want more customers, loyalty, and sales? Using customer data can do that                Top brands are using customer data to understand the customer journey and deliver positive experiences that boost loyalty and revenue.      The dangers of getting ahead of your supply chain\u00a0While they work to understand their customers and get ready for upcoming generations, retailers face tough inventory challenges. The problems for big retailers like Target stemmed from their responses to pandemic spending and supply chain bottlenecks. They misread the tea leaves of what people want to buy, when those items will be in stock, and what to do with the excess. \u00a0This content is hosted by a third party ( www.tiktok.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew WindowNow inventories of big retailers are up over 26% compared to last year, and the surpluses are causing big dents in profits.\u00a0Old Navy is another example. They started selling an expanded catalog but weren\u2019t clear on the sizes and styles loyal customers preferred. As a result, they sold out quickly of core sizes, which frustrated their loyal base. They also had excess inventory of sizes and styles customers didn\u2019t want. This stock required discounts to move.\u00a0What lessons can retailers take from these examples? Consumer spending habits have always been a moving target, but the speed of the shifts has increased thanks to the pandemic.At the same time, supply chain visibility and inventory management have shifted from back-office system secrets to customer experience cornerstones.\u00a0      Overstock, under-stock, out of stock: Retail inventory management outlook                After two years of turbulence, retail inventory management remains a tough job. Find out how retailers can tackle the challenge.      Customer data platforms: The benefits of connecting the front to the back\u00a0Brands can tackle today’s retail challenges by connecting front-end engagement with back-end business processes.An enterprise-grade customer data platform (CDP) can put the data puzzle together \u2013 identity, consent, supply chain, inventory, return data, and more \u2013 to create a clear understanding of customers at scale. \u00a0For example, a retailer’s calculations of customer lifetime value can go beyond identifying the biggest spenders to factor in returns data. This will identify the most profitable segments, not just those who spend the most up front.\u00a0A customer profile in a CDP that shows LTV and returns dataThese data insights can serve the entire business, not just marketing.Connecting customer data to an enterprise\u2019s supply, inventory, warehouse, and financial data through a CDP can inform critical business decisions ranging from market expansion to customer service to product development. \u00a0With the right CDP, a brand can increase the fidelity of customer demand signals and connect them to back-end processes to become more resilient and agile. In addition, intelligent analytics within a CDP can help predict and execute next-best actions. This reduces churn and optimizes opportunities.\u00a0Examples of how understanding customers pays off for the long-termShein is an example of a brand that uses data to understand young customers and prep for Generation Alpha. They\u2019re a top 5 Gen Z ranked brand that’s pushing the fast fashion world forward.\u00a0\u00a0They have an innovative business model that shrinks the globe to connect consumers in over 200 countries to fashion trends via influencer marketing. They also work to reduce manufacturing cycle times from weeks to days, streamlining warehousing and logistics to delight their young customer base.\u00a0\u00a0As a result, their global popularity and profits are soaring.\u00a0Nike is another success story. They worked to understand customers in their core business of selling running shoes. Then, with this rich foundation, they moved into adjacent sports \u2013 basketball, tennis, baseball, golf, and much more \u2013 using a repeatable approach that starts with shoes and then moves into soft goods and hard goods.\u00a0\u00a0Through this strategy, Nike grew profits and separated from their nearest competitor, Reebok.\u00a0      Turn on a dime: Business agility starts with customer data management                Business agility requires great customer data management. Understand customers with a single, enterprise-wide view of data to pivot on a dime.      Winning customers for life: Loyalty earned, then rewarded\u00a0As Gen Z and Generation Alpha enter the market, retail brands have a chance to win customers for life by adapting to their expectations.My daughter is too young to know how businesses function in today\u2019s digital economy. Along with every other shopper, she’s never said, \u201cI like the brands that connect front to back.\u201d Yet that’s exactly what she, along with her whole fearsome generation, expects. \u00a0The brands that embrace this mindset now will outpace their competition in the future \u2013 and help to future-proof themselves.\u00a0   Do you really know your customer? Find out how a CDP uncovers the insight you need to power CX that drives growth. Start HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2022","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"07","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/\/07\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"27","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/\/07\/\/27\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Gen Z and Generation Alpha rising: How brands can win customers for life","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/07\/27\/how-to-win-customers-for-life\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]