Holiday Shopping and the Generational Divide
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What holiday shopping trends kick off on Thanksgiving and Black Friday?
Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, November 27th. I'm J.R. Whelan in the newsroom of The Wall Street Journal in New York. Not everyone plans to hit the stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Turns out there's a generational gap. We'll ask a Wall Street Journal reporter to explain. First, some money and market news you should know. More good news for home sellers. Prices rose 3.2% in September. That follows a similar increase in August after a long period of declines. Economists say it's too soon to call these two months of price increases a trend. The price increases coincided with an increase in existing home sales, sparked by low interest rates. If you're planning last-minute shopping to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, check your local store to be sure they're open on Thursday.
Costco and Publix are among major food retailers who are closed on Thanksgiving.
How did recent home-price and store-hour updates set the economic scene for holiday shoppers?
Other food chains like Kroger, Food Lion, Stop and Shop, and Giant are open, but they close for the day in the mid-afternoon.
Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the several days that follow kick off the holiday shopping season and account for a substantial percentage of merchant sales for the year. And while millions will hit the stores and hit the buy now button online, different generations of shoppers go about their shopping very differently. upending Black Friday and requiring merchants to be on their toes. And Wall Street Journal reporter Ray Smith is here to discuss. So, Ray, all over media, online, on TV, in the newspapers, it's doorbusters this and 50% off that. But I want to start with the youngest group of adult shoppers out there, ages 18 to 35. You might define them as Gen Z. And the merchants can throw all the discounts they want at this group.
That's not the goal of theirs while they're shopping.
How does Gen Z prioritize social and environmental values when holiday shopping?
One of the things that's happening is
is that this generation is very socially conscious. I think the term a lot of people use is woke. And what that means is that they want to support brands that they feel are either really sort of concerned about the environment. They take up social causes, whether it be LGBT rights or breast cancer. They're really looking to support brands that have some agenda that aligns with theirs, some social or environmental agenda that aligns with theirs. So they're not necessarily looking at the holiday shopping season and Black Friday as I'm just looking for whatever costs the least. And they're really looking for brands that... again, support their causes. So they might not even be buying more on quantity rather than they're thinking about quality.
So it's not so much I'm going to buy as much as I can. It's more I'm going to be selective and thoughtful about what I purchased this holiday season. And so brands and retailers really have to pay attention to that. It doesn't mean that they're not buying at all, but it's just they're just going to be more selective and thoughtful about what they're buying.
And this is not a fad. Brands that cater to this age group feel this mindset is only going to grow.
Exactly.
Why are younger shoppers choosing quality and secondhand over doorbuster discounts?
And this is not sort of something that they're thinking is going to only affect them for this season or they've just, you know, it's just sort of a fad. They really are thinking long term. about the environment. And one young woman I talked to who was a college freshman talked about taking a class on climate change, and that's sort of changing her whole mindset about the future. And so when we talk about fads, these young people are thinking about, when I grow older, when I have kids, I want the environment to be something that's not going to be harmed anymore. And so they're thinking long term. So to answer your question, they're definitely thinking of consuming this way from now on. And they're not afraid to go to a secondhand shop to buy the perfect gift for their family.
That's another way they're looking at being more sustainable. And secondhand shopping has become much easier and easier and convenient with online sites like the RealReal and ThredUp where you don't have to dig through bins.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What holiday shopping trends kick off on Thanksgiving and Black Friday?
0:05–0:53
2
How did recent home-price and store-hour updates set the economic scene for holiday shoppers?
0:53–1:52
3
How does Gen Z prioritize social and environmental values when holiday shopping?
1:52–3:09
4
Why are younger shoppers choosing quality and secondhand over doorbuster discounts?
3:09–5:30
5
How has Gen X shifted from mall doorbusters to online Black Friday shopping?
5:30–7:34
6
What motivates shoppers who still love Thanksgiving-night and in-store Black Friday experiences?
7:34–9:07
7
How are brick-and-mortar retailers responding to competition from online shopping?
9:07–9:37
8
What should retailers do to deliver a seamless in-store and online Black Friday experience?
9:37–9:45
Speakers
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