Business is never short of challenges, not least because customer behaviour keeps shifting and strategy has to be updated just to hold a place in the market. Most recently, McKinsey, the global management consultancy, gave a name to a new group of consumers: the “Zero Consumer”, a group whose behaviour is genuinely new — and not confined to Asia, but emerging worldwide.
The Zero Consumer's effect on the business landscape runs deep, because their buying behaviour cannot be predicted. Part of the reason is how thoroughly online and offline shopping have merged, which forces businesses to adapt and to build brands that are memorable on value, on quality and on the relationship between the brand and the customer.
Which raises the obvious question: what about SMEs, the smaller businesses — how are they to adapt to this new kind of customer?
Who exactly is a “Zero Consumer”?
McKinsey's report defines the new group of consumers or shoppers it calls “Zero Consumers” as people who are expert at buying both online and offline, which lets them find the price they want at the quality they want, and who feel no particular attachment or loyalty to any one brand. Nor does it matter where they live or which country they are in: anyone can be a Zero Consumer.
Marketing has traditionally taken geography — where a customer lives — into account. Now customers are measured by generation instead, and the generations most prominent among Zero Consumers are Gen Z and millennials, the age groups most shaped by the internet and by digital change, and the ones who have folded online technology into offline life to create a convenience no earlier generation managed.
According to HubSpot's research, these customers are also inclined to support small businesses, and brands that are diverse and do not discriminate by gender or ethnicity. They care about the environment, and they care about businesses that respect their staff, treat them well, and have a genuine privacy policy.
Most millennials still enjoy shopping in physical shops, but many also buy online. On payment, they use everything from paying in full to instalments, and they think about price more than about brand — while at the same time looking for brands that reflect the values they hold.
And that is not the whole of it. Let us look at what actually characterises them, and at what they want.
1. Zero Consumers expect offline and online to feel like one experience
Because the Zero Consumer is effectively shopping all the time, the line between offline and online has stopped being clear (the English word for it is phygital). McKinsey's data confirms it: consumers want an omnichannel shopping experience, and expect the shop floor and the website to connect seamlessly — browse online and see the real thing in store, or see something in store and buy it online.
Take Singapore, where research into retail spending found that more than half of it now comes from omnichannel purchases, with the expectation that in the years ahead consumers will increasingly research products online, compare prices and read genuine user reviews before deciding to buy in person — and the other way round too.
So if you want to attract customers who behave like Zero Consumers, you will need to reshape how you sell to fit how they buy.
2. Zero Consumers' spending is harder to predict
Understanding how a Zero Consumer spends is a genuine challenge, because their buying behaviour is subtle and highly individual, and there is no reliable way to say whether their appetite to buy is high or low. They are known for being both thrifty and extravagant: thrifty in some categories only, so that they can spend in the categories they see real value in, or that raise the quality of their day-to-day lives.
Zero Consumers also value the experience above the product. They give priority to purchases that offer a meaningful experience or match the values they hold — sustainability, health, or their own enjoyment. A brand that wants to connect with these customers has to reach them on more than the transaction alone.
3. The Zero Consumer's new definition of customer loyalty
Zero Consumers have changed what customer loyalty means. It is no longer measured by repeat purchases or affection for a brand; their attachment to brands is far more fluid. McKinsey calls it “zero loyalty”, and it turns on the values a brand holds, on quality and on ethics — not on promotions and value for money alone.
So if you are using a loyalty points programme to win customers over, you may need to look at rewards beyond discounts and free gifts.
4. Zero Consumers care about values
Zero Consumers weigh health, sustainability and transparency in their buying decisions. McKinsey's “net zero” thinking underlines how strongly this group focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. These consumers actively seek out brands and products that align with their values, with an emphasis on sustainability, ethical production and transparent brand practices.
Health is a serious concern for the Zero Consumer, who gravitates towards products and services that support both physical and mental wellbeing. That interest reaches well beyond traditional health products to food, clothing and technology that support a healthy way of living. Sustainability matters just as much, with demand for products made from sustainable materials and ethical supply chains that keep environmental impact to a minimum.
Transparency about how things are made, where materials come from and how a company behaves in society matters too. Zero Consumers want brands to communicate their practices openly, showing tangible commitment to the values they claim. By building those values into how they operate, companies can strike a chord with Zero Consumers and earn loyalty within this influential group.
In our next article on meeting the needs of the modern customer, we look at how Qashier POS can help your business respond to this new kind of customer behaviour.
Start raising your game with Qashier today
If you would like Qashier to be the partner behind your restaurant, get in touch and we will be glad to tell you more. We are ready to support you, whether with the terminals themselves, POS systems for restaurants or for retail shops, an effective POS system, and support from our team seven days a week.
For more details, contact us on our Line Official account: @qashier.th or call 02 544 0267