What Do You Have to Offer Tweens

What Do You Have to Offer Tweens

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  Customer Strategy ++ Trendy, cool, and relevant appeals to this growing demographic. By Lora Schrock What Do You Have to Offer Tweens? has to do with something [the wearer finds] very relevant.” To keep on top of what’s trending in gift products while getting them into the hands of young teens can be a challenge, but the ef- fort can lead to results at the register and for the kingdom. Know the customer. To successfully sell gifts created for Gen Z, retailers need to start, as the song says, at the very beginning, by determining who the ac- tual customer is. Vicki Geist, buyer for Cedar Springs Christian Stores (Knoxville, TN), says at her store moms and grandparents are the main buyers of gift items for tweens. “Hardly any young people are buying without other fam- ily bringing them in.” AdultswantingtoinstillChristianvaluesinto children are constantly on the look out for qual- itygifts.However,saysEdNizynski,presidentof LighthouseChristianProducts,retailersneedto remember tweens are consumers, too. “Mom will likely be the person to intro- duce teens to Christian products,” he says, “but we need to be careful to not underesti- mate their interest in Christian products or their buying power.” In her experience, Laura Lung, president of Bob Siemon Designs, has seen these kids have strong opinions about what they want. “They’re making their own choices when it comes to apparel and accessories.” Retailers should balance their efforts be- tween who’s doing the buying and who’s us- ing the gift item. “While parents and grandparents may purchase these products, I don’t think they do it in a vacuum,” says Kerusso Creative Development VP Lorri Carter. “It’s impor- tant to target the end user, even it they aren’t paying for the product.” Stay current with trends. Staying on top of what’s relevant to this audi- ence is vitally important in creating and selling Christian gifts, says Turner. “This age group is very interested in gift items—if they’re trendy. Retailers need to carry what’s ‘in’ right now. You have to be quick with what’s cool.” One way to learn what’s popular is to con- nect and listen. “Use the tweens and teens you know,” says Turner. Lung suggests retailers visit stores tweens frequent to see what they sell and how they merchandise. “Just go into a Forever 21 or an Anthropologie or look online to see how many gifts and accessory items are being sold.” Retailers who want to stay ahead of the curve should set up a focus group by recruit- ing children of regular customers or devel- oping relationships with local youth groups. Invite them in, order pizza, offer some free- bies, then ask for feedback on your gift prod- uct selection. You may be surprised at what they consider cool (and it may not be what their moms are buying for them). You’ve seen them everywhere— young teens taking selfies, wearing earbuds, sending texts. Known as Generation Z, the iGeneration, and Tech Gen, young teens born in the late 1990s and early 2000s are a growing demographic the mar- ketplace is taking note of. Not only do these tweens have their own spending money, they’re interested in Christian gifts, but only if they’re designed and merchandised properly. “I do feel it’s a demographic we need to be going after,” says Michael Turner, director of new market development at Send The Light Distribution. “To have something a tween or teen wants, it has to be relevant—and trends are usually quick to change. Doing a cool t- shirt or piece of jewelry isn’t trendy unless it The Official Magazine of CBA20 CBA Retailers+Resources | 01.15 continued on page 22 Feature_Tweens.indd 20 12/12/14 2:40 PM
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  Customer Strategy ++ The Official Magazine of CBA22 CBA Retailers+Resources | 01.15 continued from page 20 Other ways to stay up-to-date include keeping up on social media, finding out what youth workers are seeing and hearing, and attending the 2015 International Christian Retail Show in Orlando, FL, where gifts for tweens and other children’s product trends will be discussed. Cross-market. Retailers can promote this category to both parents and tweens by creating attractive lifestyle displays that include a wide array of merchandise. “The challenge will always be for ven- dors to design appropriate gift items that moms and grandmothers would choose to buy and items that teens will actually enjoy. There’s a similar challenge for retailers to buy and merchandise the right products,” says Nizynski. “Cross-merchandising and prod- uct knowledge is key in selling the variety of products for this age group.” Lung thinks retailers can go a step further and create an area in their stores that speaks to the teen shopper. Anything related to tech- nology, especially accessories to bling out cell phones, should be displayed along with more traditional gift items such as jewelry, books, t-shirts, journals, and picture frames. It’s important to remember that tweens are much different consumers than their older siblings, the Millennials. From the gift product they’re interested in to how they think about it, young teens are their own unique group, and retailers need to market accordingly. In Carter’s experience, impulse items tend to be purchased predominantly by young teens.  “I’ve been at events where teens and pre- teens dig through a box of buttons to find all the options before choosing their favorites,” she says. “I’ve never noticed an adult doing that.” Encourage spiritual development. Even as the Christian marketplace changes with time, its core goal of encouraging spiri- tual growth and spreading the Gospel mes- sage remains the same. Nizynski sees reaching the tween market as an outreach opportunity. “Eveninstoreswhere[gifts]mightnotsellas well, we encourage those retailers to continue their efforts, as ministering to our youth is ex- tremely important, needed, and is what we’ve all been called to do,” he says. “Those who buy things for teens and tweens can influence what these kids see and read. Sometimes we need to make our youth interested for their own good that they’ll realize one day.” R+R Experts caution retailers not to underestimate the buying power of Gen Z. Experts caution retailers not to underestimate Feature_Tweens.indd 22 12/10/14 2:59 PM