September 14, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team
Despite rough economic conditions, Gen Y online shoppers are the least likely demographic to cut back on spending during the recession. What is even more amazing is that the Gen Y group of people born between 1978 and 2000 are shaping the current state and future of ecommerce. Many changes to ecommerce websites have been driven by Gen Y and it is clearly visible by the amount of Internet retailers who have redesigned their sites in the last year to attract this audience. There are also more customer reviews often created by Gen Y and a quicker introduction of new products. A perfect example is the iPhone which seems to release a new model every 6-9 months to keep consumers excited, preventing them from being bored and moving onto the next product which might not be from Apple.
Influencing the Gen Y audience is crucial because, not only are they heavy online shoppers, but they also are the influencers and help their friends and family with their buying decisions. Almost every teen has access to a high speed Internet connection and a cell phone so Internet retailers need to stay on the cutting edge of technology with a top of the line ecommerce experience that attracts Gen Y. While some studies have shown that Gen Y spending has slowed down a bit, they are the audience to watch as they will most likely be the first to increase their spending habits once they can to ensure they have the coolest and newest products in the marketplace.
Nick was born and raised in California, but has been working the dot com scene in Seattle for many years. He co-founded ZippyCart back in 2009, and now works here full-time. Nick wears many hats at ZippyCart, including producing content for our Ecommerce News blog. Nick loves photography and the outdoors, so when not working on ZippyCart you can find him out and about in Seattle.
