Amid the ongoing global digital transformation, it’s easy to focus just on the technology. But the consumers using that technology are just as critical.
The recently published 2023 Global Digital Shopping Index from Cybersource and PYMNTS.com examines the consumer personas behind the great digital shift and how they differ in adopting everything from mobile commerce to embedded payments.
So let’s meet the three consumer personas that are driving shopping’s digital transformation.
Digital mainstream consumers
Dominating the six nations we studied are digital mainstream consumers, who in all but one country (the U.K.) account for more than half of all digitally engaged shoppers. Overall, this group averages 52% of consumers surveyed, which equates to approximately 223 million people.
According to the study, “They are the most drawn to digital features that give them more insight into the items they buy and make that shopping process easier, including mobile-optimized apps, product reviews, and free shipping.”
The largest grouping of Digital Mainstreamers can be found in Gen Z, of which 60% identify as such. There’s a statistical dead heat between Millennials (51.7%) and Gen X (51.5%), with Baby Boomers and Seniors the smallest group at 48.4%.
Digital minimalists
Digital minimalist shoppers are the outliers, averaging a mere 10% of consumers surveyed. However, it’s fascinating that only one-quarter (24.1%) of Baby Boomers and Seniors fall under this persona as the cohort that is the least likely to use digital shopping features.
Digital minimalists engage with fewer shopping features than any other persona group “and primarily engage digitally with the features that more highly correlate to their offline habits: coupons, rewards and promotions, and preferred payments availability,” according to the study.
Even among the most engaged cohorts, we find pockets of digital minimalists, including Gen X (10.2%), older Bridge Millennials (5.6%), younger Millennials (4.8%), and even Gen Z (2.7%).
Digital enthusiasts
Digital enthusiast consumers are the most engaged—they can’t get enough of the digital experiences that merchants offer. They use their smartphones to shop online and navigate the aisles in-store, looking up prices, offers, coupons, and any other omnichannel experience a retailer is serving up.
“That also means they are the most technology- and data-literate of all of the personas,” the study notes, “and therefore, are the early adopters of features such as buy now, pay later (BNPL), voice-enabled shopping and buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS).”
It’s no surprise that Millennials and Bridge Millennials dominate the ranks of digital enthusiasts at 43.5% and 44.1% of consumers surveyed worldwide, respectively.
Close behind in their digital enthusiasm is Gen X at 38.3% of the sample, somewhat curiously ahead of younger Gen Z consumers, of whom 37.4% of those surveyed identify as digital enthusiasts.
Get to know these shoppers better
The full study paints complete illustrations of each of these personas as they buy and pay in their respective regions, offering merchants crucial insights into how to build out omnichannel offerings that appeal to each persona.
Identifying the personas that make up your customer base can help you understand which shopping and payment features you should offer, saving you the time and money you might have spent guessing or using trial and error. Offering payment methods that fit with your customers’ personas can also increase satisfaction and encourage repeat buying. All this means better customer relationships, higher revenue, and smooth experiences. So get to know the personas—and your customers—better here.