GenerationALPHA:PreparingforthefutureconsumerCommerce3GENERATIONALPHACONTENTS5FOREWORD7INTRODUCINGGENERATIONALPHA10THEPOWEROFINFLUENCERS16BRANDSANDAMAZON’SENDURANCE20TECHNOLOGIESOFTOMORROW’SSHOPPER24DEFINEDBYDELIVERY27CONCLUSION:ANALPHAFUTURE5GENERATIONALPHAFOREWORDHughFletcher,HeadofThoughtLeadership(EMEA)andUKMarketingatWundermanThompsonCommerceToday’schildrenaredifferentfromthegenerationsthathavegonebefore.They’vegrownupwithstreaming,socialmediaandscreensoneveryavailabledevice.Information,entertainmentandhumanconnectionhasalwaysbeenjustaclickaway.Thishashadamassiveimpactonhowtheylive—andhowtheyshop.ButareretailerspreparedfortheneedsofGenerationAlpha,the6-16-yearoldsenteringthestoresinfivetotenyears’time?Theanswer,forthemostpart,isno.Manyorganizationsarestrugglingtoinitiatestrategiesthatwillmakethemrelevantforthisfuturegenerationofcustomers.Andallthewhile,retailinnovatorslikeAmazonareleadingthewaywithone-daydelivery,lightningfastpayments,value-addingloyaltyschemesandcontentcreation—settingthebenchmarkforcustomerexpectations.Tocompeteinthisworld,retailersmustlookbeyondtheirquarterly,halfandannualtargets.Adoptingalong-termviewistheonlywaytomeettheexpectationsofGenerationAlphawhentheseshopperscomeofage.Withthisinmind,WundermanThompsonCommercesetouttodiscovermoreaboutAlphas,thenextgenerationofconsumerswhoarecurrentlyagedbetween6and16.Wespoketoover4,000individualsinthisagebracket,halfintheUKandhalfintheUS,tolearnmoreabouttheirviewsoneverythingfrominfluencersandAmazon,todeliveriesandtheshopfloor.Inthisreport,we’vesetoutourfindings,including:•WhoGenerationAlphaaretodayandwhotheyarelikelytobecomeinthenexttenyears•WhatisshapingAlphas’attitudestowardsbrandsandbuying•Howthisgenerationfeelsaboutretailtechnology•WhatAlphaswantfromtheirshoppingexperienceWherepossible,we’vebrokendowntheresearchbyregionorbyagecategorywithinthegeneration:13-16-YEAROLDSAREMAXI-ALPHAS,9-12-YEAROLDSAREMIDI-ALPHASAND6-9-YEAROLDSAREMINI-ALPHAS.Alongsideourresearchfindings,we’veaddedgu...
