Meta reveals how Gen Z Consumers are driving the growth of commerce in Thailand

With 3.8 billion people using Meta’s family of apps globally every month and 91% of Thai Gen Zs using Facebook to consume media content, with 85% of them using Messenger and 83% using Instagram every month, it continues to be the leading source of connection, commerce, and inspiration for Thais who are seeking stimulating encounters that are creative and convenient. 

 

Culture Rising, Commerce Rising with Gen Z 

Beyond social connections, the power of Gen Z consumers plays an integral part in shaping the socio-economic landscape for today's and tomorrow’s shopping experiences. As echoed in Meta Foresight’s 2023 Culture Rising report, which analyzed the preferences and expectations of shoppers above 18 years old (Gen Z & Millennials), global early adopters, including Thais, expect brands to resemble those of a best friend when they are shopping.

This essentially means that they expect brands to understand their values, communicate on the same wavelength, and make things together with them.  People also want their “brand friends” to bring a little magic too, creating experiences that are immersive, seamless, and personal to them.

In addition, some 69% of those surveyed said that they would like a brand to always be available and communicative in the virtual world, with rising topics of conversation revealing that younger consumers expect brands to use platforms like Instant Messaging on Instagram (+165%) and Chatbot on Facebook (+189%) to communicate.

These insights reflect Meta’s ongoing investment in improving its core services, including a focus on AI to create stronger workflows for businesses and outcomes for brands, to better connect people with what they love, and enable new forms of commerce as Gen Z consumers seek new ways to shop. These unique experiences include a new standard of hybrid or omnichannel shopping and journeys that build in entertainment, self-expression, and community.

Prae Dumrongmongcolgul, Country Director, Facebook Thailand, highlighted the importance of creating memorable online shopping experiences during the event, “Connections and discovery are core to what makes our apps unique and valuable to communities around the world.

This is especially the case with Gen Z, where our commerce and shopping solutions drive connections with people where they are — and wherever they may be in their journey — so that they can easily discover and buy the things they are most likely to love.”

Meeting Them Where They Are: The Importance of Hybrid Shopping

With consumers gravitating towards more experience-driven journeys, Gen Zs are desiring a sense of offline normalcy while retaining the convenience of digital retail through hybrid shopping behaviours that require touchpoints online, in-store, and on their smartphones.

During the event, Meta shared that while 46% of Gen Zs’ final purchases happen in-store, online plays a major role in driving discovery and product demand, with 88% doing research online on a product before going to a physical store and 80% using online platforms to research while physically browsing products in-store.

Further, the in-store experience remains crucial for brands, with 65% of Gen Zs wanting to use augmented reality features in-store to unlock new shopping experiences such as virtually trying on products. Meanwhile, 68% are interested in visual searches: using their smartphone camera to find out more information about the product (e.g., through a QR code).

New technologies like AR and video are becoming fundamental parts of the shopping experience for consumers, with short-form videos becoming central to Gen Zs’ discovery and evaluation processes as consumption grows.

This reflects the increasing blending of virtual and physical worlds post-pandemic, with 88% of Gen Zs saying that smartphones are their most important devices and that they are 1.2x more likely than other generations to purchase a product on their smartphone while researching in-store.

Meta emphasized that Thai businesses must empower discovery for Gen Zs via a shopping experience that leverages new technologies like AR, as well as video in all its formats — from in-stream to Reels — and creating personable but contactless transactions that build and retain customer loyalty.

Turning Social Connections into Inspiring Commerce

Today’s event shared that as more Thai consumers — particularly Gen Zs — rely on digital channels for their shopping, so do their interactions with businesses online. Social media plays a key role for Gen Zs in their shopping journeys, with 71% of Gen Zs using Facebook for inspiration and product discovery, and 59% finding products to purchase on the platform.

The insights emphasized that Thai businesses must use the channels where they are (Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger) to connect and build long-term relationships with Gen Z consumers — and must truly understand their needs to create loyalty.

Gen Zs expect their social commerce experiences to be personalized and convenient, with 70% seeking personalized product recommendations including through targeted advertising, while 67% are open to new brands or products if they align with their values. Businesses can optimize for personalization and find new audiences by targeting the most relevant location, trending topic, weather, or even interests.

Personal communications and experiences are also vital elements to the shopping journey, with 87% of Thai Gen Zs preferring to contact businesses via messaging apps, and 86% wanting to interact via social media. This also extends to their broader social connections and the power of the Creator Economy, with 84% of Gen Zs sharing their shopping experiences on social media and 64% wanting to directly buy from creators/influencers.

During the discussion, Meta shared how a leading fashion digital platform such as Pomelo had driven action by acknowledging the desires of its Gen Z consumers during a double-day sales campaign by creating an AR Gamification campaign under the name “Snatch & Win”.

Leveraging Meta’s commerce tools to drive consumers to a snatch-and-win AR game to collect promo codes for immediate redemption, Pomelo saw a 14.1pt increase in ad recall, a 7.6pt increase in favorability, and a 5.7pt increase in action intent.

Prae concluded, “We are undergoing an exciting evolution in the way people experience and seek to interact with brands online, with Gen Z defining and shaping the future of commerce. Their hunger to find inspiration and passion as well as their love of self-expression and community aligns perfectly with Meta’s apps, both as a source of inspiration and discovery, and also to make it easy to engage, connect, and create meaningful relationships with businesses and brands. With the commerce landscape becoming more competitive and complex than ever before, brands and businesses must provide a seamless experience across all channels and establish a bridge between the online and physical world while also enabling a discovery process that allows Gen Z to explore brands and products entertainingly.”