Brands will have to rethink Instagram and Pinterest positioning

The decline in sales in traditional retail chains has become particularly noticeable in recent years - brands such as Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch especially noticed this trend. And the problem may lie not in the attention to a particular brand, but in changes in the way of thinking of adolescents, who will soon make up the bulk of potential customers of similar brands.

Now the majority of consumers are beginning to reconsider their attitude towards things - they want to get a certain experience, and not a specific thing when they buy clothes or shoes. Often they want to demonstrate the perfect purchase through social networks.
')
“Experience means much more to them than the products they buy. It is important for them to show purchases in social networks - their whole life is tied to this and they don’t understand when it cannot be done, ”said Marcy Merrimen, an expert on“ generation Z ”at Ernst & Young.

As a result, the younger generation wants to purchase items and accessories that can be transformed into emotions from publishing to Instagram or Snapchat. Taking into account small budgets and lack of interest in high fashion, they will get something in Zara or Forever 21 - these stores fully meet the basic conditions for creating a spectacular image in any social network that the brand itself cultivates. That is why Zara-style stores are much more successful than most others in retail.

But social networks have an impact on other generations - women can collect whole images on Pinterest. This is one of the main features of this social network - you can plan your future appearance in it, gradually adding to the image all the new elements. New stores are better adapted to the distribution of content of such a plan compared to traditional retail chains.

“Zara's business model allows you to respond to any changes in fashion almost instantly, due to which customers get what they see in social networks,” said Neil Saunders, general director of analytical company Conlumino, to Business Insider.

It is noteworthy that many brands actively adapt to current market realities. During the fashion week in New York, the Banana Republic trademark provided an opportunity to purchase a new collection immediately after the demonstration at the stand, which turned out to be especially important for the younger generation.

Therefore, Ernst & Young analysts believe that brands will have to adapt to the trend of “fast consumption”, monitoring current trends in social networks and providing tools for future interaction with customers.