Today’s generation (and let’s be honest, yesterday’s too) will never understand the sheer joy a 10-year-old child had in the 1970s when the JC Penney or Sears Christmas Wish Book catalogs arrived, usually in September. Kids these days miss out on the fun of looking, reading, wishing, and wanting as the holiday shopping season fast approaches. Then, making a list and checking it twice before ripping out the catalog pages with the coveted items circled so they could not only tell Santa Claus but show him exactly what they wanted. That way there would be no doubt he could get our Christmas wishes wrong.
As we’re about to enter the big shopping season, today’s younger generation, known as Gen Z (ages 12-27), does things differently. Gen Zer’s are more likely and are more prepared to spend their share of over $82 billion on gifts they’ve found and bought via social media platforms and purchased from or on their mobile devices. This according to an EMarketer report based on Basis Technologies and GWI research. Santa and Sears are noticeably absent from this picture, with the Wishlist for Santa replaced with Amazon’s.
When asked, “Are you likely to buy gifts via social media sites?” here’s how the generational demographics who said ‘Yes’ break down, followed by the percentage each group makes up of the US population:
| Said Yes | Generation/Ages | Percentage of US Population |
| 42% | Gen Z (12-27) | 20.69% |
| 26% | Millennials (28-43) | 21.71% |
| 15% | Gen X (44-59) | 19.51% |
| 6% | Baby Boomers (60+) | 20.93% |
Social Media shopping is growing every year, based not only on ease of the customer shopping experience, but also due to instant gratification and convenience. A Walmart survey found that 55% of Gen Z consumers have bought items online while browsing social media in the last six months. When asked what social platforms consumers would buy holiday gifts on, Instagram was narrowly the top choice. Here’s the breakout:
| Social Platform | Will Buy Gifts From |
| 57% | |
| 56% | |
| TikTok | 43% |
| YouTube | 38% |
The process of shopping on mobile devices is also on the rise overall. According to an Adobe Analytics report, between January and July 2024 consumers drove a 10.2% jump YOY in shopping via mobile devices, now accounting for $280.4 billion. In total, mobile sales make up 47.7% of all online sales.
We’ve come a LONG way from our department store Christmas Wish Book catalogs, haven’t we? If nothing else, this data amplifies the absolute need to be mobile friendly and socially present for the upcoming holiday season in your B2C marketing. CMOco can help make sure you are. Give us a call today!
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