The heading says it all, doesn’t it. But if you want more, read on.
A NZ Herald article announced a 62% increase in internet banking usage over the past 3 years measured against a 23% reduction in the patronage of bank branches.
If you think this is just another internet statistic, think again. It’s a ‘generational shift in consumer behaviour’.
To be more precise, it’s the collective behaviour of new consumers that no longer have the patience to stand in a queue. For this generation, ‘face-to-face’ is yesterday’s model. The internet is now the ‘channel of choice’.
‘Generation C’ is here – those internet-savvy consumers that don’t have time to waste. And whilst they’re typically under 40, this is not a generation based strictly on age like Gen X and Gen Y. Gen C are people of all ages! It’s not an age thing – it’s an attitudinal thing to be Generation C. I regard myself as Gen C and yes... I’d love to be 40 again!
Gen C consumers expect things to happen quickly and efficiently and they prefer to do their business in their own time and place. An answer to a question is usually only a mouse-click away. Products and services are just mouse clicks away. And if it can’t be done with a mouse... then why bother? These new consumers are impatient... very impatient. They understand that time is money. They understand that the old model of meeting and greeting costs more and this means they’ll get back less. So they expect - when they do it online – that it will be faster, it will be lower cost and they will save money.
Our prediction... like internet banking and airline ticketing, life insurance will one day be mostly transacted this way. Obviously we can’t wait.
