By Lauren Tan and Sydney Ton

As influencers and social media platforms, such as Charli D’Amelio and TikTok, continue to surge in popularity, the impact of social shopping continues to further larger industry changes.

Here are 5 ways to ensure that your business continues to stay relevant and attract millennial shoppers:

1. Stay up-to-date with pop culture:
   Trends are constantly changing, which means that companies need to be able to quickly adapt for continued success. Check out Twitter’s #Trending page or Snapchat’s Featured Stories to learn about the latest styles, drama, memes, and more! Campaigns with pop culture references tend to be more successful in resonating with Millenials and Gen Z.
2. Have a Strong Social Media Presence:
   Millennial and Gen Z shoppers place more emphasis on the total experience, including a visually appealing, aesthetic brand and opportunity to provide honest feedback.Targeted influencer marketing plays a large role in shaping consumer buying behavior. Micro-influencers have built a large following around what they are passionate about; partnering with individuals whose brand is industry-specific is not only more effective in reaching a niche audience to increase engagement, but also provides greater credibility than paying for a general celebrity endorsement.Remember, it shouldn’t be a debate about whether social media is more effective than email marketing; rather, integrate the two! For example, you can compile email addresses in a list to create a custom audience and launch retargeting campaigns on Facebook.
3. Offer Subscription Shopping:
   Access and usership is the new ownership! Movie and newspaper sales are down, but video streams and digital news consumption are up. Millennials and Gen Z appreciate variety, where they can pick and choose experiences to splurge on, without making a long-term, financial commitment.Monthly subscription services like BirchBox and Rent the Runway follow a subscription revenue model, which allows them to capitalize on customer relationships. As long as your customers are happy with the value, variety, and convenience of the products, they’ll continue to pay you.
4. Create a Loyalty Program:
   What draws in younger consumers and has them coming back? Stamp cards and loyalty points! When it comes to shopping, millennials love a good deal more than anything. Loyalty programs give them an incentive to keep making purchases from your company in exchange for a small reward.
5. Provide Convenient Payment Options:
   Splitting the bill after a nice dinner with your group of friends can be a hassle. Someone pulls out a calculator on their phone, people are scouring through their wallets to find exact change, and bills are flying everywhere!

With mobile payment services like Venmo and CashApp, the post-meal chaos has been greatly reduced. You can easily request money or pay someone in just a couple of clicks! Several restaurants, food trucks, and county fair booths have already joined the mobile payment club.

Some clothing stores have even started using online banking company Klarna to allow customers to split payment into 4 installments. This “buy now, pay later” mindset appeals to college students or anyone on a budget looking to treat themselves!

These are just 5 starting points for you to attract Millennials and Gen Z, the generations with the most spending power for years to come, to your business! Keeping in mind that this impactful demographic value brands that provide convenience, good experience, and social change will present a unique opportunity for you to create a loyal audience.