Generation Z: The iGeneration Studies and Surveys Showing How Gen Zers Like to Shop
November 22,
2019 by Laurie Northington in General 
During the next five years, over 20 million consumers tagged as Generation Z will pour into young-adult status with the leading edge surpassing the age of 21 this year, graduating from college and entering the workforce. This is the third factoid in a series of four factoids detailing the demographics and shopping preferences of the newest adult generation.
Media and Shopping Preferences
Because the internet/smartphones and brick and mortar shopping have always been a part of the fabric of Generation Z, it has never been an either/or experience, but rather the two meld together. Smartphones serve as support for the brick and mortar shopping experience, not a competition to it.
Gen Z are “more traditional shoppers than Millennials,” said Katherine Cullen, director of retail and consumer insights for NRF. “They are killing the idea that online and offline are separate.” It will be interesting to see as these young Gen Zers age into personal credit cards if their shopping habits move more online.
According to Brandon Pierce at SPS Commerce, the previous generation of Millennials “is accused of killing this or that industry (also television sitcoms, traditional sit-down dinner dates, golf and of course, retail shopping at malls and stores). In reality, they are only disrupting the way things have been. They still buy the products they want, consume media like movies and shows, buy groceries and eat food from restaurants. They just prefer to go about it differently. It’s a matter of needing to change old, traditional ways of marketing and selling to keep up with a younger generation’s preferred way of living. Basically Generation Z is going to be an intensified version of the Millennial tidal wave of change.”
Studies and surveys are being published almost monthly, detailing how young Gen Zers currently shop. Currently 98% of Gen Zers prefer to shop in brick and mortar stores, while almost half (46%) research items on smartphones before making in-store purchases. 60% prefer the mall to shopping – likely due to socialization and inability for younger teens to drive to multiple retail locations. 70% influence family decisions regarding items such as furniture, household goods, and food and beverage.