How to create tangible gifts for the digital age
What do you buy the generation that’s grown up in a digitally dominated world? A tangible gift, that’s what!
Born between the mid to late 1990s and the early 2010s, Gen Zers have been dubbed ‘social natives’ due to being the first generation to have internet access and portable technology from a young age.
As such, there’s a common misconception that print products and gifts won’t land with this new-age market, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Gen Zers are demonstrating a strong desire for tangible merchandise, particularly items deemed personal, relevant or ‘memory preserving’, making them a lucrative market for print-on-demand personalised products and gifts.
THE ‘REAL APPEAL’ OF TANGIBLE GIFTS TO GEN Z
The real appeal of physical gifts for Gen Zers is just that - it’s something real that they can hold, touch and treasure. It enables them to feel instantly present in the moment or even be transported back to a time that holds fond memories.
As a generation who lives and shares almost every element of their lives online - and that’s often on the brink of digital burnout - tangible products also provide a much-needed break and distraction from their spiralling screen time.
And so, Gen Zers have come to put much more value on tangible gifts and, in particular, appreciate the reactions and emotions that print and personalised products can evoke. For example, the warm fuzzy feeling they get when looking through a physical photo book versus mindlessly scrolling through their camera roll.
Above all else, they recognise how print preserves meaningful moments and want to experience that for themselves, or gift it to others.
WHAT’S ON GEN ZER’S GIFT WISHLIST
So, for those wanting to create tangible print-on-demand products for Gen Zers to gift or receive, what’s topping their wishlists?
A recent Keypoint Intelligence Info Trends study comparing photo behaviours and attitudes across generations found that around 41% of Gen Z respondents had purchased custom photo products in the previous year, including the likes of photo cards, books, calendars and posters/enlargements.
Meanwhile, here at Precision Proco, we’ve seen a huge spike in some of our client’s print-on-demand personalised products that tally with significant Gen Z life events. For example, there’s been a substantial increase in personalised academic diary purchases, which aligns with students returning to physical lessons and wanting the physical tools to assist them on that journey.
Photo wall tiles and retro prints are also proving popular, gifted to Gen Zs either from each other or from their Gen X parents to make their uni digs and dorms feel more homely and unique.
PHOTO PRINTING & MERCHANDISE MARKET GROWTH
And, with the latest market research report by Technavi predicting the photo printing and merchandise market is set for further growth in the next three years, it doesn’t look like tangible gifts will be losing their Gen Z appeal any time soon!
The rise in gifting culture is said to be one of the key drivers behind this market expansion, along with the evolution of customised gifts and demand for personalised photo products.
A report from IBM and the National Retail Federation further backs this make-it-personal preference, reporting that nearly half of Gen Z consumers want products tailor-made to their tastes and interests.
And, as this younger generation enters new life stages, they’ll, of course, have even more significant events to celebrate, record and preserve in print-product-form in the future.
PRINT-ON-DEMAND IN HIGH DEMAND
So, as demand for personalised print products and gifts increases, it makes sense that the level of tech supporting its production and distribution should keep rising too.
Technavi’s report highlights how print-on-demand services, in particular, are having a positive impact on the photo printing and merchandise market, contributing significantly to its growth by making the process slicker and quicker.
As the UK’s largest manufacturer of personalised print-on-demand products and the print partner behind some of the biggest e-commerce brands, it’s fair to say this is an area we can more than deliver on.
Through our innovative ConnecTED offering, we help online retailers of all sizes streamline processes and scale-up growth, taking their customised products from website to worldwide letterboxes with absolute ease.