How Each Generation Shops in 2024 [New Data from Our State of Consumer Trends Report]

Download Now: The State of U.S. Consumer Trends [Free Report]

Understanding your audience is a hard job, but decoding the Gen Z, Gen X, Boomers, and Millennial shopping habits is where the real challenge lies. All generations shop differently, so you need to do some deep research to find out how things function in their “worlds.”

To help you determine where to meet audiences where they are, we surveyed thousands of U.S. consumers of all generations to learn about their shopping habits, media consumption, and the latest trends they’re following.

For those in a rush, we’ve put a quick generation-by-generation overview below with links to the deep dive of each age group. To see a broader side-by-side comparison of how all generations handle each stage of product discovery and purchases differently, jump to our comparison section.

Millennial Shopping Habits

Gen Z Shopping Habits (ages 18-24)

Social media, searching on the internet, and word-of-mouth are the top ways Gen Z discover new products.
Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are the top social media apps among Gen Z.
Of Gen Z, 37% have bought a product based on an influencer’s recommendation in the past three months, and 43% have bought through an in-app shop.
One in two Gen Zers want companies to take a stance on social issues, specifically racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, gender inequality, and climate change. When companies advocate for these issues, it has a strong impact on Gen Z purchase decisions.
Ads on streaming services beat cable TV for reaching Gen Z. Retail discovery is still relevant but less frequent than digital channels.

Jump to our Gen Z deep dive >>

Millennial Shopping Habits (ages 25-35)

Social media, internet search, and YouTube ads are also the top ways Millennials discover new products.
Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok are the top social media apps among Millennials.
Of Millennials, 43% have bought a product through an in-app shop in the past three months, and 36% have bought based on an influencer’s recommendation.
Of Millennials, 47% want companies to take a stance on social issues, specifically racial justice, income inequality, climate change, affordable healthcare, and LGBTQ+ rights. When companies advocate for these issues, it has a strong impact on Millennial purchase decisions.
Ads on cable TV beat streaming services for reaching Millennials by a small margin. Retail discovery is still relevant but less frequent than digital channels.

Jump to our Millennial deep dive >>

Gen X Shopping Habits (ages 35-54)

Gen X prefers to discover new products through search, social media, and in retail stores.
Gen X discovers new products on social media more frequently than any other channel, even though it isn’t preferred.
Of Gen X, 90% use social media — Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are their favorite apps.
Of Gen X, 19% have bought a product through an in-app shop in the past three months. The same number bought based on an influencer’s recommendation in that period.

Source:: HubSpot Blog