3 ways Gen Z and millennials are shopping for the holidays

The holidays are in full swing, and shoppers are out in the stores and scanning websites for gifts, decorations and more to make the season special. Diving deeper into our winter holidays data, NRF took a closer look at how two groups, Generation Z and millennials, are approaching their holiday shopping this year. Read on to learn more about how these two consumer segments are making the holiday season bright.

Millennials get a head start

While many consumers like to get an early start on their holiday shopping, millennials are leading the trend. By early November, 70% of consumers aged 25-34 and 67% of those aged 35-44 had already started their holiday shopping. These consumers were also farther along in their shopping than other age groups — it wasn’t until after Thanksgiving that other age groups caught up.

Unsurprisingly, millennials were more likely to take advantage of retailers’ early October sales events like Amazon Prime Big Deal Days and Target Circle Week than other age groups. Why do millennials prefer to get a jump start on the holiday season? Spreading out their gift shopping budget and avoiding crowds are the top reasons they like to shop before November.

Gen Z mixes it up with gifting

Although clothes and gift cards remain at the top of consumers’ gift lists this year, personal care and beauty items are growing in popularity — in part due to Gen Z shoppers. Thirty-nine percent of 18- to 24-year-olds plan to purchase personal care and beauty items as gifts this holiday season, compared with 28% of consumers overall. This growing gift category saw a 7% increase over last year, while consumers aged 18-24 increased their plans to purchase these items by 10%.

But Gen Z is also keeping up with the classics. While books and other forms of media have become less popular than they were during the pandemic, consumers in this age group are bucking the trend. Books and other media are younger consumers’ second highest gift category, and they are still purchasing this gift category at rates consistent with last year. With 40% of consumers aged 18-24 purchasing items in this category as gifts, these young shoppers are more likely to gift books and other media than any other group.

There’s more than one way to pay

More consumers are using alternate payment methods such as PayPal and Venmo to purchase holiday items this year, and the youngest generations are in the lead. Eighty-one percent of consumers aged 18-24 say they plan to use some form of alternative payment method when purchasing holiday gifts this year, while 79% of 25- to 34-year-olds and 77% of 35- to 44-year-olds said the same.

Although these youngest age groups are all likely to utilize these tools at checkout, they differ on their preferences. Millennials are the generation most inclined to use PayPal, with 38% of 25- to 34-year-olds and 42% of 35- to 44-year-olds saying they plan to use it when buying their gifts this year. Meanwhile, Gen Z is using Apple Pay at rates more than double that of the general population — 34% of shoppers aged 18-24 say they plan to use Apple Pay to purchase holiday gifts, making it this group’s top choice.

To learn more about consumers’ shopping plans this holiday season, visit NRF’s Winter Holidays Headquarters.