Gen Z shopping trends uncovered
By Vogue Business for PayPal
August 20, 2021
Gen Z is currently the generation most interested in shopping, but they’re careful about how they spend their money,
according to an exclusive survey of 1,300 Vogue and GQ readers in the US. Key findings show that this cohort is
engaged with their brands while searching for newness and eager to discover new trends that keep them fashion-
forward.
Gen Z’s shopping behaviour is critical to understand due to this generation being the newest to join the workforce and
having purchasing power. They’re willing to shop across channels, have an appetite for higher-quality items and are
eager to stay on top of cultural trends. At the same time, they have some frugal tendencies: 70 per cent of Gen Z said
they are monitoring their spending more closely as a result of the pandemic, meaning brands will have to earn their
place in Gen Z wallets.
Online communities can also translate to purchases. TikTok’s #TikTokFashionMonth challenge helped inspire Gen Z
to shop. The hashtag garnered 5.5 billion views.
“In terms of bricks-and-mortar, this is where TikTok will come into its own,” says Cassandra Russell, fashion brand
partnerships lead at TikTok. “We know the power that creators have in bringing people to events. If there isn’t a big
capacity in-store, we can live stream it to a much wider audience.”
Nike Live stores, digitally fuelled with in-person sports experiences that mirror online preferences of specific
neighbourhoods, answer the call. “The power of digital allows us to serve personally, at scale, around the world,” says
Heaf. In terms of engagement, he reports that these are some of the highest performing doors in Nike's fleet, with 150-
200 new destinations set to open globally.
One in five of all respondents have used buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) solutions since the start of the pandemic to buy
more expensive, higher-quality products, including 22 per cent of Gen Z respondents. Greg Lisiewski, vice-president
of Pay Later Products at PayPal, reports that PayPal is seeing an increase in those wanting to buy higher-priced
fashion items.
Gen Z shoppers on Depop are “redefining what ‘newness’ means,” says chief brand officer Peter Semple. Gen Z’s
frequency of shopping for new items is being disrupted by secondhand, a market that Gen Z respondents are 27 per
cent more likely to shop. Preloved and vintage platforms, such as Depop, are arguably slowing the cycle of new
purchases, with customers enjoying lots of different trends and items and then passing them on. Depop chief brand
officer Peter Semple explains that “by shopping in this way, Gen Z is redefining what ‘newness’ means”.
The product most commonly bought throughout the pandemic using BNPL has been shoes. Sneakers are the item that
they report willingness to invest in the most. The study confirms that sales of shoes and sneakers saw a 59 per cent
uplift from August 2020 to April 2021. Heaf reports that in Q3, the women's Air Jordan 11 Jubilee, “one of the largest
and most successful footwear launches ever, made more than $175 million in revenue”.
“Gen Z is such a huge and influential generation, and they’ll continue to drive cultural change on so many fronts —
including consumption behaviour,” says Depop’s Semple. “[They look] to their peers and social media for inspiration
more than they would look at traditional ‘top-down’ fashion inspirations as previous generations may have done,
which is reflected in what they buy, how they buy it and from who.”
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