Brick and Mortar Retail Shows Strong Positive Sentiment Across All Ages, Lightspeed Research Shows

Gen Z and young Millennials agree with older peers about shopping in store, but differs everywhere else

There is still a strong positive sentiment towards brick and mortar, according to recent research from Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform empowering merchants to provide the best omnichannel experiences.

Our new State of Retail report surveyed over 2,500 retail consumers to better understand how age influences shopping habits and where consumers stand on brick and mortar in 2024. Good news for main street shopping: in every age group, a majority do most of their shopping in person. 

But younger shoppers show a significant break with their older peers in how they interact with brands and how they want to shop, meaning even with a bright outlook for brick and mortar, retailers might need to adapt how they’re doing business to increase their chances of success into the future. 

Dax Dasilva, CEO of Lightspeed, added: “Retailers need to understand where shoppers are, and how they behave in order to properly address their needs. With those insights, they can assess and get creative with how they connect to generate a smooth shopping experience. To slay the holiday retail game, retailers should stay ahead of trends.”

View the full State of the Retail Industry report here.

Notable data from our 2024 State of Retail report: Gen Z and young Millennials do things differently

• Only 12% of the younger age bracket (ages 18-34) said influencers played a role in their buying decisions, while 6% of the middle aged bracket (ages 35-54) said so and a meager 1% of the 55+ demographic
• When looking for product information or to interact with a brand, Gen Z and young Millennials differ from their older peers. While retailers’ own websites top the list for shoppers above 35, Gen Z and young Millennials prefer social media 
• Gen Z and young Millennials were also the demographic most likely to be subscribed to a retail membership (like Amazon Prime) with 77% saying they were subscribed to one or more services. 19% said they exclusively shop with retailers they have subscriptions with

Retailers should consider adapting to Gen Z and young Millennial’s shopping and browsing habits if they want to reach that demographic. Beyond keeping up an engaging social media presence, we found that can mean working with their preferred retail platforms, offering instant restocks for a fee and switching up loyalty programs to offer a more VIP experience. 

Notable data from our 2024 State of Retail report: brick and mortar in the lead

• 56% of US shoppers and 64% of Canadians do most of their shopping in person, with little variation depending on ages, gender or income level
• 71% of shoppers across age groups cite the food and beverage category as their number one priority for shopping local
• Customers prefer to shop in store for every retail category except books, toys and hobbies 

Strong positive sentiment towards brick and mortar is a good sign, but retailers should be mindful about their business’ strengths both offline and online, particularly for younger shoppers. It’s time for businesses to update their tech stack, consider Gen Z and young Millennial’s preferences and drive home affinity for in person shopping.

View the full State of the Retail Industry report here, and visit our website to learn more about Lightspeed.

Methodology

Lightspeed initiated a consumer survey throughout July 2024 using third party survey vendor Medallia. Over 2,500 responses were collected amongst Canada and the United States. Respondents were required to be over the age of 18, and have purchased retail goods within the past six months. All responses collected were anonymous.