Gen Z is fueling a social shopping explosion, with 39% now having purchased and 76% having discovered products on social media platforms, according to Salesforce’s latest Connected Shoppers Report.
According to the report, the future of retail hinges on capturing the market for Gen Z, a demographic born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s that is expected to command up to $9 trillion in global spending power by 2034 – more than any other generation.
Social media shopping, a fragmented landscape made up of dozens of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, has been identified as a key battleground.
The latest report proffers that retailers need a unified commerce platform that combines AI capabilities, a centralised data foundation, and seamless application interoperability to manage the increasingly complex shopping journeys.
Findings by Salesforce show that 53% of all shoppers now discover products through social platforms, up from 46% in 2023.
It also found that Gen Z is leading the charge, with 76% using social media to find products.
The report added that while YouTube dominates overall, TikTok is a Gen Z hotspot, attracting 40% of younger shoppers compared to just 4% of Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964.
“Social commerce is the latest channel for digital spending that is fragmenting across a constellation of marketplaces, retailer websites, brand sites, and delivery apps, rather than consolidating into a single channel,” said Linda Saunders, Country Leader and Senior Director Solutions Engineering, Africa.
“Brands that fully embrace its potential will be in prime position to capture their share of the growing Gen Z market,” Saunder added.
Gen Z is also adopting AI to find and evaluate products at a much higher rate.
Based on the latest findings, more than half (54%) of Gen Zers have used generative AI to discover and evaluate a product, versus 39% for the total population.
Gen Z shoppers are also 10 times more likely than baby boomers to frequently use AI to discover new products and 2.7x as likely to want product recommendations from AI agents (63% vs 23%)
Retailers continue to face rising customer acquisition costs and mounting returns are squeezing margins as they also navigate inflation and other headwinds.
To efficiently serve customers, retailers are using AI and unified commerce to drive revenue without adding operational costs and enhance customer experiences.
