REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Results of a new survey highlight the differing generational expectations of shoppers, including the revelation that 43% of Gen Z and Millennials are likely to increase their in-store shopping this year, despite being considered digital natives, followed by only 29% of Gen Xers and 13% of Baby Boomers.

“After all the talk about brick-and-mortar stores being dead, it’s interesting to see that ‘digital natives’ are more likely to increase their shopping in physical stores this year than any other generation,” said Greg Zakowicz, senior commerce marketing analyst at Oracle NetSuite. “These findings underline why retailers cannot afford to make assumptions about the needs and expectations of different generations.”

The survey from Oracle NetSuite, Wakefield Research and The Retail Doctor found big differences in generational expectations across Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z.

58% of Gen Z and Millennials had a positive view of the current retail environment, feeling it was more inviting, followed by 40% of Gen X and only 27% of Baby Boomers.

Conversely, 42% of Gen Zers become annoyed by increased interaction with retail associates. While in contrast, 56% of Millennials, 44% of Gen X and 43% of Baby Boomers all noted they would feel more welcomed by increased in-store interactions.

“When it comes to Gen Z, retail associates need to find a way to get them to lower their guard,” said Bob Phibbs, CEO, The Retail Doctor. “Sales associates need to be authentic and develop trust. The most important thing is to discover the individual shopper and find out what they’ve seen and researched but not expect them to know exactly what they want.”

While 98% of retail executives think that engaging customers on social media is important to building stronger relationships, the study found a big disconnect with consumers across all generations.

Overall, only 12% of consumers think their engagement with brands on social media has a significant impact on the way they think or feel about a brand.

Among those who engage with brands on social media, 38% of Gen Z consumers are likely to engage with retailers on social to get to know the brand compared with only 25% of Millennials and 21% of Baby Boomers.

65% of Gen Z and 63% of Millennials believe their engagement with brands on social media platforms has an impact on their relationship with those brands, while more than half of Baby Boomers and 29% of Gen X consumers do not engage at all with brands on social media.

“The disconnect between retailers and shoppers kind of dovetails into what we discovered earlier this year,” said Phibbs. “Retailers aren’t doing enough of the necessary hard work to understand the unique place that shoppers are in, particularly when it comes to the different generations. But, the answers for survival are a lot closer than they think. One such idea is to let retail associates reveal their individual personalities rather than having them repeat the same eight phrases over and over again.”

Wakefield Research contacted 1,200 consumers and 400 retail executives from the U.S., U.K. and Australia for this survey with questions about the overall retail environment, in-store and online shopping experiences and advanced technologies.