How department stores can connect with Gen Z shoppers

As the department store vertical faces challenging times, it is more critical than ever they find ways to engage with younger generations of consumers.

It’s not easy being a department store retailer. Once mighty Kmart is down to a single full-sized store location in the continental U.S., while its parent Sears exists as a shadow of its former self under a post-bankruptcy private entity called Transformoco.

Other leading department store chains like Kohl’s, Macy’s and JCPenney are in the midst of turnaround and reinvention efforts. One major issue facing department store retailers is that while discount mass merchandisers like Target carry a certain cache with the under-30 crowd, traditional department stores are not typically a favorite shopping spot for them.

So how can department stores reach lucrative but elusive Gen Z customers, who are just coming into significant independent buying power and forming retail and brand loyalties? Here are three suggestions:

Be social – on their terms

Believe it or not, Sears and Kmart are pioneers of social media retailing. Sears arguably became the first major retailer to launch a social media initiative when it introduced Shop Your Way, an omnichannel membership and social shopping platform all the way back in 2009. 

Based on Delver, a bankrupt Israeli social search engine Sears purchased, Shop Your Way allowed customers to create profiles where they could share deals and show off products they had purchased. 

But even as millennials and then Gen Z (and now younger teen/tween Gen Alpha) consumers flocked to social media, they did not choose to join a social platform offered by a department store company founded in 1893. Shop Your Way tried a variety of partnerships with celebrities and influencers over the years, but they were unable to draw in young consumers.

[READ MORE: Gen Alpha has $28B in purchase power and likes these social networks]

Department stores need a strong social presence, but it needs to involve partnerships with the social networks young consumers already prefer – visually-focused platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat as well as immersive gaming environments like Roblox. No need to reinvent (or in Sears’ case, invent) the wheel.

Mobilize for success

Again, Sears and Kmart were early adopters in the mobile space as well, offering customers a variety of personalization and notification services via the Shop Your Way app, even mobile in-vehicle pickup on a widescale basis in early 2014.

In some respects, Sears and Kmart have been a little too far ahead of their time in offering app-centric retail services. But 10 years later, m-commerce is becoming the preferred method for browsing and buying goods, with Adobe predicting over 50% of online 2024 holiday sales will be transacted via mobile device. 

Without a modern, user-friendly app with high-quality images and intuitive navigation, browsing and purchasing controls, any efforts to capture Gen Zmarket share will be doomed before they even begin.

Not every retailer has the in-house resources to develop a state-of-the-art shopping app. But even a retailer that has little in-house expertise can quicky and effectively develop a high-quality app with help from a member of the network of numerous consultants and development studios that has sprung up in recent years. 

The buddy system

Finally, department store retailers should look at partnerships with other brands and retailers to help bring in new shoppers, Gen Z or otherwise. Kohl’s has been a leader in this space, starting with a partnership to accept in-store returns of Amazon purchases it launched in 2017.

Since then, Kohl’s has entered store-in-store partnerships with Sephora and Babies”R”Us, and is now integrating a digital registry into its Babies”R”Us collaboration. While Babies”R” Us is not much of a draw for Gen Z, Sephora could be, and it would be easy to include a digital registry for a more Gen Z-focused event, such as graduation, in partnership with a retailer serving teens and young adults.

To quote baby boomer icon Bob Dylan, the times they are a changin’, your sons and your daughters are beyond your command – but you can follow their lead.