Gen Zers influence parents’ food purchases
Generation Z is influencing a significant amount of consumer spending habits, either with their parents’ or their own money, according to the latest issue of the Consumer View report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF).
According to the report, 87% of parents say their children influence at least some aspect of their purchases, either for household items or for themselves. Gen Z is most likely to have an influence on clothes, outings, toys and food purchases. They are also most likely to spend their own money on entertainment purchases such as apps, books/music and toys/games.
“We’re seeing a shift in the way families shop where children are much more involved with purchasing decisions,” said NRF Vice President for Research Development and Industry Analysis Mark Mathews. “This year during back-to-school shopping, teens and pre-teens were heavily involved with purchasing decisions and contributed significantly more of their own funds compared with a decade ago.”
While Gen Zers might not always expect to be involved in family purchase decisions, their parents find it important to include them. The report said parents involve their children for a variety of reasons: the children will be using the item (57%), their opinion matters to their parents (57%) and to teach decision making (56%). The most common time parents involve their children is at the front end of a purchase — when researching features and product reviews and when price checking or looking up product availability.
The report also found that Gen Zers influence different aspects of shopping including the specific brands parents consider (52%), product features that are important (48%) and specific retailers that are considered (41%).
“Shopping is a great way for parents to bond with their children, and parents want retailers to make it even easier to involve their children,” Mathews said. “As the industry continues to evolve, retailers have a huge opportunity to expand all-inclusive family shopping.”