Amex research shows that Gen Zers and millennials are surprisingly discovering new brands and businesses the old-fashioned way - by walking around their communities.
Over the past decade, digital marketing has dominated the cultural discourse and advertising budgets as the key way to find new customers. But if people are now finding them more so on foot, the calculus changes from having to hunt for customers virtually, to being in destinations where they can be discovered IRL (which, to anyone who doesn't understand that acronym, means 'In Real Life').
The 2024 American Express Shop Small Impact Study reveals that customers are making a concerted effort to find new, smaller brands this holiday season and that 90 percent of millennials and Gen Zers find new brands while walking around their towns, eclipsing those who say they do so through social media. This could be a real, much needed boost for 'bricks and mortar' outlets.
Amex's discovery benefits small, local businesses, as 85 percent of consumers are “likely” to focus on shopping at small businesses for holiday gifts (11 percent more than a decade ago).
Those stats are already putting business owners in the festive spirit as 95 percent say they’re optimistic about sales this season (12 percent more than last year). That also bodes well for Small Business Saturday (30 November) because owners expect to make about a quarter of their annual revenue that day.
Elizabeth Rutledge, chief marketing officer at American Express, says, post-COVID, there’s been “a shift in younger consumers’ behaviors as they desire more IRL, human connections.” That feeling crosses everything from entertainment, dating, and shopping. That’s because experience is now key.