Nexters On The Net

Nexters won't wait for your website; with the right web hosting provider, they won't have to.

They were playing on computers before they were potty-trained, never laid eyes on a rotary phone and can’t fathom the idea of waiting in line for movie tickets when it’s so easy to buy them in advance online.  They have seen typewriters, but only in history books. They have never lived in a world without digital photography or surround sound. Body piercing, tattoos and unorthodox hair colors are more the rule than the exception.

Nexters, also called Generation Next or Generation Y, are those people who were born between 1980 and 2000. They are more global than any generation before them. Thanks to the technology that they gleefully embrace they are not accustomed to waiting for what they want and expect instant gratification. These 42 million nexters are hooked up 24/7 and they use the Internet for all aspects of their lives. Whether it’s looking for a college, ordering a pizza, buying a used care, downloading music for their iPod or shopping for shoes, they are connected to the internet and use in it ways that no other generation could ever have imagined..   

So how does your commerce business reach this technically savvy generation with time on their hands, money to spend and a penchant for doing everything online? The first step is to try to understand them.

“This generation is heavily catered to by the marketers and the advertisers but I don’t think we are really stopping to listen to them,” noted broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff, herself a mother of three nexters ages 17, 20 and 25.In her PBS report titled Generation Next: Speak Up and Be Heard  Woodruff noted: “Nexters have grown up in a world of relative prosperity around the world and an explosion of new technology, particularly on the internet. They are used to getting information quickly. They want to know the answers to questions right away because they are used to finding things out right away on the internet.”

As one nexter put it: “Our day to day lives revolve around the internet, including the way we interrelate with each other. It’s the way we communicate with family and friends. We are daily users of everything including My Space and Facebook, instant messaging, email, cell phones and text messaging. I don’t even remember the last time I spend an entire day disconnected from my digital life.”

A recent PEW survey report included the following information about nexters:

• More than half of those surveyed had sent or received a text message over the phone in the past day, approximately double the proportion of those ages 26 to 40.
• They are the “look at me” generation. Social networking sites like Facebook MySpace and My Yearbook allow individuals to post a profile complete with photos and descriptions of interests and hobbies. A majority of nexters have used one of these social networking sites and more than four-in-ten have created a personal profile.
• Their embrace of new technology has made them uniquely aware of its advantages and disadvantages. They are more likely than older adults to say these cyber tools make it easier for them to make new friends and help them stay closer to old friends and family.
• They maintain close contact with parents and family. Roughly eight in ten say they have talked to their parents in the past day. Nearly three in four see their parents at least once a week.
• Their parents may not always be thrilled with what they see when the nexters visit.  About half of nexters say they have either gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color, or had a body piercing in a place other than their ear lobe.
• Eight in ten say getting rich is very important to them.
• Nexters believe that educational and job opportunities are better for them today than for the previous generation. They are optimistic about the future.

Talk to your web hosting provider about ways to make your ecommerce site appealing to this well-educated technically savvy generation. They go online with a cell phone in one ear and an iPod ear bud in the other. They are fast-paced and impatient. They have never waited for anyone or anything and it is unreasonable to assume they will start with you. If you are hooked up with the right web host, they won’t have to.

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