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Alexandria, VA – September
2018 / Newsmaker Alert / On
this week’s episode of Convenience Matters, “Preparing
for Generation Z,” National Association
of Convenience Stores (NACS) hosts Jeff Lenard and Britt Brewer talk
with Matt Thornhill, managing partner for the Institute for Tomorrow, about
Generation Z, the generation born after 2002. This demographic has always
known the Internet and smartphones, but doesn’t use cash, paper, landlines
or cable TV.
“Generation
Z is essentially a placeholder name because they’re not all here yet,”
cautioned Thornhill. “We have a couple more years for them to be born.
[Plus,] a generation doesn’t really form its identity until they go through
their teenage years, … and only about half of this generation has reached
this point. … Over the course of the next 10 years, we’re going to have
events that will happen in society or trends that will imprint this generation.”
Some have called this generation—which Thornhill jokingly called “kids”—the sensible generation because of everything they have to deal with, such as school shootings and crooked politicians. This generation is “sensible, practical, pragmatic, and they certainly have an orientation toward safety and security,” Thornhill said. “Unfortunately, they’re being raised in a world where every day and every week—we get exposed to some horrible terror attack or gun violence. They’re getting exposed to it during this formative time in their life, so they’re being imprinted almost with this feeling of vulnerability.” What all that means for retailers is not crystal clear yet, but Thornhill emphasized that companies who work on building trust with customers likely will resonate with Generation Z. Much of this work is done online in forums and in responding to customer comments on review sites. “The role for corporations is that they need to be participating in those conversations … [because] the company is the brand and the brand is the company,” he said. “Essentially, you don’t want to argue, but acknowledge and respond” to comments or concerns posted online. Each week a new Convenience Matters episode is released. The podcast can be downloaded on iTunes, Google Play and other podcast apps, and at www.ConvenienceMatters.com. Episodes have been downloaded by listeners more than 60,000 times in 80 countries. About
NACS
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