E-comm content trends by demographics

Every successful online store caters to a certain demographic. Regardless of how big you are, or how diverse your products are, you simply cannot hope that your marketing will reach everyone. By trying to do so you will only spread yourself too thin. With this in mind, we will use this article to outline e-comm trends by demographics and give you an idea of what different types of content have to offer.

Different e-comm trends by demographics

While there are many ways in which you can break down the general public, we will use a system that relies on four factors. Age, gender, location, and income. There are certain content preferences that are related to each factor. And by combining these preferences, you can look to effectively address your target audience.

Age

When it comes to shopping, millennials, and Gen Z prefer to do it online. Even when it comes to clothing, they might visit a store in order to try something on for size. And then, they'll still go online to see whether a different store will offer a better deal. Furthermore, one of the prevalent e-comm trends among millennials and gen z is that they'll use social media to research a particular store or product in order to see whether it is worth the buy. What they value most is transparency. Therefore, if a brand is caught doing something shady, it can pretty much forgo the younger demographic.

Baby boomers and Gen X, on the other hand, still prefer in-store shopping. Be it that old habits die hard, or that they simply prefer to check out products in person. But, you should be aware that even the older generations are turning more and more towards online shopping. What they value most is quality over quantity. And, seeing that they are often confused and a bit scared when shopping online, they value responsive customer service.

‍Gender

A disclaimer. While we fully appreciate that not all people view their identity as binary, we cannot cover all genders within the span of a single article. The reason for this is that there is essentially no limit to how many genders there are. And, secondly, almost all shopping data related to gender categorizes their research as male and female. Therefore, we will only outline what men and women prefer when it comes to e-comm content trends, as that is the viable limit of our research.

Women are more likely to buy products in online stores and are more likely to research them. They will spend more time comparing similar products and listening to reviews from social media influencers. With this in mind, it should come as little surprise that women tend to value personalized content quite a bit, as it lowers the time necessary for research.

Men tend to be more impulsive when it comes to shopping. They are far more likely to react to discounts and promotions. And will spend far less time researching and comparing products.

Location

Shoppers from urban areas tend to value convenience and speed of delivery. Seeing that they usually have various options available when it comes to online shopping, they will take notice of stores that have a track record of fast and reliable delivery. You should also know that people from urban areas tend to use their phones for online shopping. Therefore, mobile-friendly content should be an obvious choice, if you wish to address them. Finally, urban shoppers are always on the look for niche and specialty products. Seeing that they have an abundance of choices, they will try to look for products that perfectly satisfy their needs.

On the other hand, shoppers from rural areas tend to value availability and price. Seeing that they are usually far removed from actual stores, they will be happy to find online stores that will deliver to them. They tend to look for practical and functional products that will improve their everyday lives. And to do so, they will use desktop or laptop PCs.

Income

Low-income shoppers will put more value on affordability. They will be more alert for promotions, seasonal discounts, and special deals. And, they will spend ample time trying to find the cheapest option among various stores.

On the other hand, high-income shoppers will prioritize quality and customer service. While they won't be shy about spending their money, they will want to feel that they are spending it wisely. Therefore, stores that aim to address high-income shoppers need to provide a clear reason why shopping with them is the best option (not simply the cheapest one). If you allow high-income shoppers the ability to customize and personalize their shopping, they will value your store that much more. And they will appreciate it if you have diligent customer service that knows how to quickly solve their problems.

‍How to use these factors for content creation

The factors that we've outlined aren't strict nor set in stone. A high-income shopper may still look for the cheapest option. A person from a rural area might require a niche product. And a male shopper might spend an exorbitant amount of time researching a specific product. So, what is the value of the factors we've outlined? Well, the best way to utilize them is as a guideline. Once you have a good idea of what your customer base is like, you can look to create content that emphasizes certain factors.

To give an example let's suppose that you run a sports goods store. If you wish to cater to women, you would outline the details regarding your products such as quality, customer reviews, etc... If you were to cater to men, you would focus more on special deals and seasonal sales. Same products, but a different way of presenting them for your online audience.

Opting for the right content format

When it comes to deciding on what content format to use, we would advise that you focus more on your brand and what works best for it. While the factors we've outlined can be helpful when deciding the subject of online content, they can really tell you what content format to go for. Modern e-comm trends dictate that short, personalized, video content garners the most attention. But, unfortunately, you cannot properly cover all subjects with short videos. So, a combination of written and visually heavy content is a must. Using web stories should be a clear option, as it gives you an easy way to bridge the gap between written and more visually based content. But you should never lose sight of your brand and how it relates to your demographic.

Final thoughts

What we've outlined so far should give you a decent idea of e-comm content trends by demographics. Nevertheless, no single online article can hope to tell you how you should create and market your content. Instead, you need to come up with your own ideas and test them out. Some A/B testing is necessary if you wish to learn what type of content will hit the mark with your target demographic. And the sooner you start testing different content types, the sooner you will learn what goes well with your brand.