How Can Retailers Crack the Gen Z ‘Riddle’?

With a recent PwC report referring to Gen Z shoppers as having become a “riddle that many retailers can’t quite crack” in the lede, it may come as little surprise that this generation of consumers was referred to as highly paradoxical as compared to their elder counterparts in Gen Xers, millennials, and baby boomers.

“Their arrival in the consumer marketplace coincided with the explosion of smartphones and social media — and with economic headwinds like inflation, rising interest rates, a tough job market and the resumption of student loan payments,” the PwC report’s authors wrote.

“The result is a generation defined by contradictions. Gen Z is digitally native, yet drawn back to physical stores. Fiercely brand-aware, yet ready to abandon brands for private labels. Cautious with money, yet quick to spend when the purchase carries emotional weight,” they added.

A few other data points stood out in the earliest portions of the data:

• Gen Z is expected to hold $12 trillion in spending power by 2030, per NielsenIQ and GfK projections.
• Zoomers indicated plans to slash holiday spending by nearly a quarter (23%) this time around, though whether they follow through on that game plan remains to be seen. Gifting is slated to fall by 30% (to $586), travel by 21% (to $504), and entertainment by just 3% (to $267), representing an average estimated spend of $1,357. Millennials plan to spend $2,190, Gen Xers $1,483, and boomers $1,180 this season.
• The vast majority (82%) of the fashion-forward Gen Z generation stated that they planned to buy dupes this season.
• A similar cohort (79%) of zoomers wait for products to go on sale, with only 21% regularly ponying up to pay full price for purchases. Searching for discount codes also showed an uptick in this behavior (14%), and sale browsing up by 17%, reinforcing the frugal mindset trope attached to Gen Z consumers.

Gen Z Paradox: Is it Simply Another Lipstick Effect, or Something More Nuanced?

After underscoring the fact that Gen Z would be the first rising shopper demographic to fully engage with AI tools for product discovery — and gen AI integration into e-commerce more broadly — the PwC report moved beyond its conceptualization of an “algorithmically curated” overview of the zoomer consumer to focus on their desire to stand out, but without the historical price tag attached to doing so.

“The answer to the Gen Z riddle appears to be about offering affordable affluence. This is like the lipstick effect, something that appeared in the aftermath of 9/11 and again in 2008, updated for the social media era. Micro luxuries like a pricey matcha, a resale sneaker drop or cosmetics that double as skincare can telegraph cultural relevance without breaking the bank,” the authors suggested.

“But to stay in the ‘must-buy’ category, these items need more than aesthetic appeal. They need to feel smart — endorsed by creators, justified by value transparency and surfaced through algorithmically tailored feeds,” they added.

Perhaps a far cry from previous retail eras in which customer loyalty is often spoken of as something which crystallized, perhaps even in generational terms in some cases — Gen Zers appear ready to “ghost” brands on a whim. Forbes contributor Greg Petro made this claim, saying that zoomer fashion shoppers were quick to drop “tarnished” brands, and then added that brand responsibility (and image) were of prime concern to younger Americans.

“For most Gen Z’ers, customer loyalty has to be earned, and even then it is fragile. According to a report by the Dynamic Sustainability Lab at Syracuse University, 81% of Gen Z consumers ‘have changed their decision to buy a product based on brand actions or overall reputation,’” Petro stated.