“Ye Aaj Kal ke Bacche Hai!” - How Gen Alpha in India is Already Redefining Markets
- Niraj Kumar
- Sep 29
- 4 min read
Niraj Kumar
30th Sept. 2025
A Supermarket Lesson
The other day, I was at a supermarket picking up groceries. As I stood in the noodle aisle searching for Maggi, I noticed a boy, no more than 10 years old, scanning the shelves with unusual determination.
His mother gently tried to steer him toward familiar options, but he refused to budge. He wanted a very specific product. After a short exchange, the salesman handed him two packets of imported noodles. The packaging made it obvious they weren’t “Made in India.”
The boy’s eyes lit up with satisfaction. His mother, though hesitant, gave in. Out of curiosity, I too asked for the same products and clicked a quick photograph. The salesman chuckled knowingly and said: “Sir, ye aaj kal ke bacche hain!”
That moment struck me. Here was a 10-year-old, not just accompanying his mother on a shopping trip, but actively driving the purchase decision. And he got exactly what he wanted.
This everyday incident is more than just a story of noodles. It is a window into the rise of Generation Alpha in India, children who are already reshaping family choices, influencing brands, and redefining consumer markets.
Who Exactly is Gen Alpha?
Generation Alpha (2010–2024) is the first generation born entirely in the digital era, a world of smartphones, AI assistants, TikTok videos, and immersive gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft. Unlike Millennials who adapted to technology or Gen Z who grew up alongside it, Gen Alpha are true digital natives who have never known anything else.
Demographers like Mark McCrindle, who coined the term, suggest Gen Alpha will be the largest and most formally educated generation in history. By the mid-2030s, they will number over two billion worldwide, with India hosting the largest share.
But what makes them remarkable is not just their numbers, it is their behaviour, expectations, and market influence.
Influence Beyond Their Age
Globally, children aged 8–14 are estimated to influence about 40% of household spending. In India, nearly 70% of Gen Alpha kids already sway buying decisions, from noodles in supermarkets to Netflix subscriptions at home.
Parents may still hold the wallets, but children increasingly dictate how those wallets are opened. As the supermarket story shows, persuasion often flows from child to parent, not the other way around. For marketers, this makes Gen Alpha one of the most powerful future consumer groups to understand today.
Living Digital, Breathing Digital
For Gen Alpha, digital isn’t a tool they switch on and off, it is the environment they live in. On average, they spend more than an hour a day on YouTube, while TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Roblox are not just “apps” but vibrant social playgrounds where they learn, connect, and express themselves.
In this ecosystem, influencers hold as much sway as family or peers, shaping opinions and purchase choices with ease. They don’t “go online”; they are online. And in that world, personalisation, gamification, and instant responsiveness are no longer luxuries, they are expectations.
For brands, this creates both an opportunity and a warning: cling to one-size-fits-all strategies, and you risk irrelevance; design seamless, digital-first experiences, and you earn relevance in their world.
Value-Driven Choices
Gen Alpha is also being raised in households where conversations about sustainability, inclusivity, and ethics are part of everyday life. They are, in effect, value-conscious consumers from childhood.
They don’t just want brands that say the right things; they want brands that do the right things. Transparency, authenticity, and ethical behaviour matter deeply. Eco-friendly packaging, cruelty-free beauty products, and inclusive messaging already resonate strongly with them. As they grow older, these preferences will only harden.
For companies, this means marketing to Gen Alpha must align with authentic values, not just cosmetic campaigns.
The Most Educated Generation
Research suggests Gen Alpha will be the most educated generation in history. Over 90% are projected to complete secondary education, with many pursuing higher education.
But education for them will not be confined to classrooms. They expect immersive, tech-enabled learning that mirrors the interactivity of their digital lives. Coding apps, gamified platforms, and online courses are already part of their world.
This shift will reshape not only schools and universities but also corporate learning and workplaces. Tomorrow’s employees will be highly educated, digitally fluent, and unwilling to accept outdated systems of teaching, training, or work.
What Business Leaders Need to Do
Gen Alpha is not “the future” to prepare for later, they are already shaping consumer behaviour in India and globally. Leaders must adapt on multiple fronts:
Design with Influence in Mind: Recognise that children are co-decision-makers in households.
Create Digital-First Experiences: From voice-enabled shopping to gamified interfaces, meet them where they are.
Embed Values in Operations: Make sustainability, ethics, and inclusion real, not cosmetic.
Rethink Education and Work: Prepare for a generation that is more educated, autonomous, and demanding.
Listen to Their Language: Their memes, slang, and digital dialects will shape communication. Ignoring them is ignoring tomorrow’s consumers.
Not Just the Future, But the Present
Back in that supermarket, the salesman dismissed the scene with a smile and a line- “Ye aaj kal ke bacche hai!” But those “kids of today” are already consumers, influencers, and change agents. If a 10-year-old can overrule a parent’s shopping decision, what will tomorrow look like when this generation controls the wallets themselves?
The truth is: Gen Alpha isn’t waiting for the future - they are bringing it into our present. The real question for leaders is not if they will matter, but, ARE WE READY FOR THEM or still waiting?
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