Gen Z report offers insights on winning over the mobile generation

App Annie has released a report on Generation Z, How to Build a Winning Gen Z Strategy on Mobile, that reveals the mobile habits of this generation to help businesses understand and cater to this group.

Gen Z is quickly becoming one of the world’s most powerful consumer segments – as one of the youngest generations, it amounts to a third of the world’s population and controls an estimated spending power of $143 billion annually.

With 98{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of Gen Z owning a smartphone, on average receiving their first at the age of ten, it’s clear that businesses looking to reach this demographic need to meet them on their mobile devices.

There are opportunities in many industries and markets to reach this demography, and mobile data will show you where these are. Finance and Shopping apps haven’t managed to reach a broad Gen Z audience, but these categories have experienced strong growth year on year and represent a promising area for investment. Apps in categories that are already highly relevant300 can be excellent partners to help you increase engagement, including Social, Entertainment, and Comics.

Traditional banks need to act strategically; unlike previous generations, Gen Z often encounters fintech like Venmo, Monzo and DANA , or even branchless banks, before traditional financial
institutions.

“Gen Z has never known a world without their smartphone. They see the world through this mobile first lens,” says Ted Krantz, CEO, App Annie. “As new consumers, businesses have an opportunity to earn their loyalty. App Annie connects brands to the mobile preferences of this generation.”

“Leveraging data to understand how to best reach consumers on mobile is more critical than ever, and Gen Z’s importance for marketers will only increase in 2021 and beyond. Businesses need to understand the values and user preferences of this audience to create truly engaging experiences on innovative platforms like Snapchat.”

Key insights and statistics about Gen Z from the report include:

• On average users spent 4.1 hours per month on apps (excluding games) in Q3 2020
• TikTok and Snapchat are the most over-indexed apps in nine out of ten markets analysed, indicating the importance of a photo and video-first strategy
• The finance and shopping app categories have experienced the strongest growth YoY, with a 60{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} increase versus Q3 2019
• Finance apps like Venmo and DANA are more likely to over-index in most markets, indicating an opportunity for mobile-first banks to capture the audience
• Gen Z is less likely than average to use the top 20 shopping apps, indicating opportunity for brands to expand their reach within this space

The How to Build a Winning Gen Z Strategy on Mobile report offers significant additional insight into the behaviours and preferences of Gen Z and where opportunities for brands lie within this critical audience, including how these attributes vary across different geographies and categories.