The youths of Brazil are not going to stop shopping in ‘real’ shops anytime soon. 68% of the youths surveyed (aged 16-21) said they will continue to shop in-store at least to the same extent, or even more, than they do now. This is almost as large a percentage as for the older age group (aged 22-65) where 71% said they will continue to use shops as much, if not more than they do now.
Physical stores are important to young people – and adults too
In Brazil, social shopping looks set to rise, with 39% of 16-21 year olds saying they will shop socially more than they currently do almost matched by 35% of adults. A physical shop presence is important to all age groups. In fact, 31% of both youths and adults surveyed stated that they would only buy online if the retailer also had a physical store.
Webrooming is preferred over showrooming by all age groups
Youths prefer to “webroom” – research an item online before going in store. 80% do this as opposed to 62% who “showroom” – research in-store and then buy online. Adults score higher on both types of behavior and also prefer to webroom – 83% do this as opposed to 71% who showroom.
What Brazilian consumers expect from retailers
Overall, lower prices and easier refunds and returns are the most common wishes of both young and older respondents in our survey. Otherwise, the wish list for retailers is much the same between the two age groups, although older respondents are significantly more likely to mention improved delivery services. Having more choice was not high on the list of wants – important to 35% of youths and 28% of adults.
Most online shopping in Brazil is on laptops or desktops
The majority of online transactions take place on a desktop or laptop. A very low percentage (of any age group) currently purchases online using a mobile device. The highest is in buying fashion, where 6% of youths use mobiles.
Payment information security can put consumers off shopping online
33% of youths and 30% of 22-65 year olds state the security of their credit card details or personal details as the reason they would not buy online, while 32% and 30% give unreliability of delivery as the reason. The older age group (22-65) are more concerned about the difficulty of returning items, with 24% stating this would be a barrier, as compared to 15% of youths.
The importance of an integrated approach
Adults have higher expectations than youths that there should be in-store support for items purchased online (82%), although three quarters of youths also expect this service (75%).
Brazil looks to the future
Youths and adults both think that home delivery and online will play a more important role in the future. Older respondents are much more likely to say loyalty cards will play an important role in how they research and buy products in future (50% vs. 36%).
Brazilian youths are most interested in identifying new ways to find products in-store, and also in customizable products. They are significantly less likely than older respondents to be interested in contactless payment or Click & Collect. The youth segment surveyed showed a very similar level of interest in innovative technologies such as Amazon drones and Google Glass to the older age group.
About the Global Youth Retail study
Global Youth Retail study is a GfK proprietary study carried out in 10 countries (US, UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The total sample of 7,266 people includes a boosted sample of c. 5,000 16–21 year olds. The study explores attitudes and behaviors across grocery, personal care, fashion, mobile and personal electronics.
Global Youth Retail is a key component of GfK Future of Retail – market insights we provide based on best intelligence about the demand and expectations of today’s shoppers across all categories and markets. Bringing together sales facts, panel data and shopper research, we help generate the precise and future focused retail strategy you need for sustainable business success.
For more information contact Matthias Rasztar at matthias.rasztar@gfk.com.
For more information on our Young Shopper Study, check out our other posts:
China - Germany – Russia – South Africa - South Korea - India
