Five things every retailer needs to know about the Application Generation

In a fierce competitive market where each sale, each click, and each digital engagement is of the utmost importance for brands, technology has become to be the cornerstone of success for organizations. If a brands’ digital experience can’t keep up with their competitors, they’ll be quickly left behind given the fast moving, and unforgiveable online landscape.

And to that extent, consumers have become accustomed to the evolving technologies and how digital experience should look like. So, they are becoming more sophisticated and discerning in their use of applications and digital services, and they now have zero tolerance for brands that fail to provide world class digital experiences.

In the latest research from Cisco, The App Attention Index 2023: Beware the Application Generation, 62% of consumers state that their expectations for digital experiences are far higher now than they were two years ago, and 66% say they only want to use the very best applications and digital services and expect an exceptional digital experience as standard.

These shifts in attitudes and behaviors are most pronounced amongst a cohort of younger consumers, aged 18-34, which has emerged across the world. The ‘Application Generation’ relied on applications to navigate through the pandemic - for their education, to embark on their careers, and to stay connected to friends - and now they're using them with great skill to live, work and play in a hybrid world.

The Application Generation place digital services at the very heart of their lives and they pride themselves on using only the most innovative applications. They want each and every digital experience to enrich their lives.

Alarmingly for retailers, 75% of the Application Generation report that they have experienced performance issues when using retail applications and digital services over the last 12 months. And as a result, they’re feeling increasingly frustrated and looking to punish brands whose applications let them down.

Retailers urgently need to understand the evolving mindsets and motivations of billions of young consumers around the world. And in particular, they need to consider these five key characteristics of The Application Generation:

1. The Application Generation are the heaviest users of digital services, including retail applications

On average, consumers aged 18-34 use 41 different applications each month, compared to 30 amongst people aged 35 and above.

88% are users of at least one retail application and, on average, these young consumers are using four retail applications on a regular basis.

2. The Application Generation are more mindful about their use of applications

While they may be more reliant on digital services, these young consumers are also far more considered in their use of these services. 67% report that they’re looking to control or limit the number of applications they’re using or that they have on their device. The Application Generation are constantly evaluating the value - or otherwise - of digital services and they think hard before downloading new applications. They’re actively looking to rid themselves of a sense of ‘application clutter’ that built up during the pandemic.

3. The Application Generation are most severely impacted by bad digital experiences

Younger consumers are more personally affected when they encounter a performance issue with an application or digital service. Indeed, the majority can think of at least one occasion in the last 12 months where a bad digital experience has affected their wellbeing.

4. The Application Generation are crying out for accelerated innovation

This new breed of application user is constantly looking for the next evolution in applications and digital services. The Application Generation always want to feel that they are pushing the boundaries in their use of applications and benefiting from the most cutting-edge technologies and experiences. That’s why 80% of them feel positive about the prospect of using Super Apps, which combine multiple digital services into a single application.

5. The Application Generation will punish any brand whose application doesn’t perform

These young consumers feel disrespected if they encounter a bad digital experience and 65% report that they are now less forgiving of poor digital services than they were 12 months ago.

Crucially, The Application Generation are most likely to act against brands whose applications fail to meet their expectations. On average, they’ve deleted as many as seven applications as a result of bad digital experiences in the last 12 months, and 70% report that they’re now more likely to warn other people against using digital services that don’t perform.

Retailers need to raise their digital game to avoid an exodus of young consumers

The fact that three quarters of the Application Generation have encountered disruption and downtime when using retail applications over the past year should be a cause for concern for leaders across the retail industry. They need to take heed of the warning - a single slip up in application availability, performance or security will see them aggravating huge numbers of young consumers and suffering a significant loss of revenue and reputation.

Retail organizations urgently need to ensure that they’re able to deliver seamless digital experiences at all times. And this means equipping their IT teams with the right tools and insights to optimize application availability, performance, and security across increasingly complex and dispersed hybrid application landscapes.

Retailers urgently need to implement an application observability solution to provide their IT teams with full and unified visibility across both cloud native and on premises environments. This will enable them to quickly detect and resolve issues before end user experience is impacted. In addition, by correlating application performance and security data with key business metrics, application observability will allow teams to identify and prioritize those issues which pose the biggest threat.

The Application Generation have arrived and they’re making it their mission to expose and eradicate poorly performing applications and digital services. The bar has been raised for digital experience and retailers that fail to hit the mark risk alienating an entire generation of application users.

We list the best mobile app development software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro