Gen Z, AKA the Online Kings and Queens, Aren’t Online Shopping?

As the latest wave of the digital revolution has taken over, well almost everything, new data indicates that Generation Z, even though its constituents  grew up immersed in technology, would rather head to the mall this holiday season, rather than buy gifts online. 

According to CNBC, Gen Z is less likely than its older counterparts (millennials and Boomers) to shop online, citing data from The NPD Group’s online survey of 3,485 consumers. Although Gen Z consumers were the first generation to have grown up with cellphones and laptops, they prefer the physical atmosphere of malls, CNBC says. Taking it a step further, Gen Z-ers, a lot of whom will be coming home on a break from school this holiday season, like to use the mall as a hangout spot to meet up with friends and grab a bite to eat, according to the article. 

This preference is good news for brick-and-mortar stores who have increasingly seen competition from e-commerce, especially the all-mighty Amazon (who, by the way, just announced it will be opening its very own brick-and-mortar grocery location next year—and no, it’s not another Whole Foods). 

Another piece of good news regarding the shopping habits of Gen Z consumers? They tend to have wide social networks for whom they want to buy holiday gifts, thereby creating more business for stores, CNBC said. 

With Black Friday quickly approaching, it will be interesting to see the data around which generations took to the mall and which took to the press of a button on their phones. 

Read the full CNBC article here.