2026’s student landscape is all about user experience; measured in milliseconds, not minutes.
In an era of AI search, ‘buy now’ and instant gratification, patience is non-existent for this latest cohort of students. In fact, two thirds of Gen Z will abandon a site or shopping cart if they find it too slow, with another report finding that Gen Z’s attention span is dictated by the speed and flexibility of on-demand, short-from content across leading platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
It’s because of this dwindling attention span and demand for the right content that friction is your brand’s top blocker for Gen Z revenue. Extra clicks, form fields, document uploads, lagging or buffering; you will create a drop off delta amongst high-intent Gen Z buyers. But how can verification help you win in this one-click economy?
Friction gaps in traditional verification
75% of students have told us they’re more likely to buy from a brand when offered a student discount; brands recognise this need and want to deliver gated offers, but often the gate can be too ‘heavy’ to open for Gen Z, in the race to access offers quickly and flexibly.
Traditional verification processes feed into this friction gap; many programmes involve a student having to leave their cart to access a third-party app to retrieve a student ID card or documentation, face 24 hour waits for approval or further hoops to jump through just to get a simple offer. Indeed, complex identity verification was found to increase abandonment by up to 30%, as buyers struggle to push through the gate for offers.
With 80% of our graduate members more likely to shop with brands they discovered at university, is it really worth the risk to have an outdated verification process in place at this crucial point of brand discovery?
Speed matters; access matters more
For Gen Z, speed is an expectation, not a USP. The real differentiator is a seamless user flow. Unlike traditional providers that rely on disruptive document uploads, UNiDAYS leverages a global network of 23M+ members and 650K institutions to instantly "match" users against existing data.
This transforms complex verification into a near-invisible, one-click experience. Even when manual checks are needed, our agentic support ensures no legitimate student is ever turned away.
Open the gates
Stop viewing verification as a security hurdle. Instead, view it as an ‘All Access’ key, enabling your youth customers to join your exclusive community quickly and without friction.
Don’t let milliseconds kill your conversion; integrate with UNiDAYS and gain access to a database that knows your customer before they even click ‘buy’.
