Gen Zers and Millennials Find New Brands On Foot

Gen Zers and millennials are surprisingly discovering new brands and businesses the old-fashioned way — by walking around their communities.

Why It Scores: Over the past decade, digital marketing has dominated the cultural discourse and advertising budgets as the key way to find new customers. But if people are now finding them more so on foot, the calculus changes from having to hunt for customers virtually, to being in destinations where they can be discovered IRL.

Between the Purchases: Per the 2024 American Express Shop Small Impact Study, customers are making a concerted effort to find new, smaller brands this holiday season.

• 90% of millennials and Gen Zers find new brands while walking around their towns, beating out 80% of those who say they do so through social media.
• That sort of discovery benefits small, local businesses, which trends with young people’s new priorities — 85% of consumers are “likely” to focus on shopping at small businesses for holiday gifts (11% more than a decade ago).
• Those stats are putting business owners in the holiday spirit — 95% say they’re optimistic about sales this season (12% more than last year).
• That also bodes well for Small Business Saturday (November 30th) because owners expect to make about a quarter of their annual revenue that day.

The Future: Elizabeth Rutledge, chief marketing officer at American Express, says, post-COVID, there’s been “a shift in younger consumers’ behaviors as they desire more IRL, human connections.” That feeling crosses everything from entertainment, dating, and shopping. That’s because experience is now key. So don’t be surprised if some smart small businesses start to feel like activations.