By Eli Ken Dror, CEO and Co-founder of Tanndu
“Social e-commerce has to start with socio-positive change, and it’s utterly critical that the next generation take care of themselves and the world using social e-commerce.”
Right now, as we speak, there is a huge untapped market in the world of e-commerce:
“The Z Generation”
“Gen Z”
“Zoomers”
Whatever you call them, they are the generation that grew up with smartphones, social media and were told they needed to “make a difference”.
They’re the generation that will need to solve the climate crisis, the generation that trolled the RNC on TikTok during the 2020 Election and the generation that used social media to expose injustice in the criminal justice system after the murder of George Floyd.
They’re a generation, unlike their parents, that cares more about making the world a better place than making money.
Using the tools of the digital age (Tik Tok, DAWs, iMovie, YouTube, Instagram), they’re constantly trying to express themselves; simultaneously the performer and the audience.
They’re constantly online, viewing ads and generating data. Constantly consuming and producing content that they share with their friends. It’s a social network where acquiring social currency and feeling connected is the ultimate goal.
And–I’ll say it–they prefer to be smart than hard workers. They were raised in an age of instant gratification, an age of 2 day Amazon Prime delivery, posting a picture on Instagram to likes and comments flooding instantly and going to Google instead of the library.
They want to make positive social change, but they don’t want to work for it.
In order to tap this market, we need to give them a way to make a positive impact that is easy. We also need to make it social and maybe a little performative so that this network of connections can hold itself accountable. We need Social E-Commerce for the Next Generation.