According to Snapchat and Portas, 51 per cent of Gen Z prefer going in-store for the experience over buying something online, which challenges previous perceptions that Gen Z are online only.
A new report from the pair, titled the Memento Generation, surveyed over 2,000 consumers. It suggests that Gen Z invests in “moments worth remembering” and place greater value on social, experiential and memory-making.
The report, which was developed in collaboration with YouGov, highlighted 41 per cent of respondents most enjoyed shopping in-store with friends or family and 59 per cent sometimes shop primarily to spend time with other people than to buy something.
We sat down with Rachel Levy, head of retail, lifestyle and CPG at Snap UK to find out more.
She explains that Snapchat is helping brands move beyond thinking about shopping as just a transaction to tap into the Gen Z demographic and encourage retailers and marketers to treat retail and shopping as a social experience.
Levy says: “Gen Z has grown up in an on-demand world, so convenience is expected. But our research shows something deeper is happening culturally. This generation is increasingly building identity and connection through shared experiences, moments and memories rooted in the real world. Shopping is becoming less about accumulation and more about meaning, discovery and social connection.”
One of misconceptions of about Gen Z, according to the report is that they value convenience over everything but 83 per cent reported that their approach differs depending on the situation- sometimes they want to explore and discover new things and sometimes they want efficiency.
She says: “They really value shopping as a social and collaborative experience, where they can, yes, discover products, but they can also share ideas with their friends, with their family, and a lot of that is really to make memories, and then have that conversation live on.”
According to the study, 83 per cent send photos or videos of products to friends or family before purchasing.
She adds: “What’s particularly interesting is where these conversations are happening. Gen Z shopping journeys are increasingly driven by close friendships, messaging and trusted recommendations rather than public posting. Platforms like Snapchat naturally sit at the centre of those private conversations, helping people discover, validate and share moments together.
“This is what we call The Memento Generation: a generation creating social currency not through ownership or performance, but through shared moments, memories and experiences that feel real.”
The report highlighted that 61 per cent would queue for over 15 minutes for something they really want. Levy explains that Gen Z want things that are not only useful but are shareable to. They want authentic experiences and they want things to be “fun”.
She says: “Gen Z want to uncover brands and products and experiences that feel culturally relevant, but are also personally meaningful. You have these two competing sides, and rather than pursuing the fastest or cheapest route to purchase, they really enjoy browsing, they want to do that research, they want to discover something unexpected.
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“What’s really interesting about this generation is that the journey that they go on has become part of the value exchange. For Snapchat, what’s really interesting is our role sits at the centre of those moments, and then we’re able to close that loop.”
The social media platform has its own AR system which allows users to try on products in real time and aids them when making purchasing decisions.
She says: “It is very much through discovery and inspiration, or through shopping as a social experience. And when we think about our community on Snapchat, specifically, they have used AR lenses in Snapchat camera more than 9 billion times a day on average”
She attributes the high usage to AR’s ability to make discovery social, she says: “Trials are part of the conversation. Room preview becomes part of the group chat, and so shopping becomes collaborative rather than transactional.”
Levy highlights the study, citing that 75 per cent of respondents actually visit the store to see the products in real life and 71 per cent value being able to touch the product to try it on.
She says: “When we put AR at the heart of that, it can actually help bring some of that exploration back into the digital world, and so with Snapchat, our strength really lies in enabling people to discover, to validate and to experience the product together.”
“It fits naturally with how we see Gen Z as shopping today.”
Snapchat allows consumers to both discover products and talk to friends and family to make decisions.
She says: “Snapchat is allowing brands to be present across the full journey, and that is from discovery, inspiration, and then all the way through to that kind of validation and purchase.”
Social commerce is an increasingly important tool for marketers, it bridges the gap between brand building and performance marketing, allowing brands and retailers to move “seamlessly” from creating awareness and driving cultural relevance to consideration and purchase.
Levy explains that the shopper journey can take place in one place on Snap. Consumers can discover brands and products through stories and try on products using AR. They are also able to discuss products in chat and can find their nearest store through Snap map.
The traditional funnel assumes a fairly linear path but the consumer journey had changed, it is much more dynamic.
She says: “Shopping is no longer linear, its not from A to B. We have really moved away from awareness to a conversion phase. It’s become this continuous loop of discovery, this continuous loop of validation, this continuous loop of recommendation driven by the people whose opinion matters the most.”
One example she gives is of herself, she had purchased a butter yellow skirt, which she wore for an event. Most people would think she had picked the yellow because she works at Snap and yellow is their colour.
But there was more to her decision that that. She had seen the skirt advertised six weeks prior and wanted to see it in person. She tried it on and liked it but before she made the final decision to purchase, she sent a photo to her team to get their opinions.
She explains that brands and marketers need to find ways of being included in the conversation beyond sponsored snaps. They need to become part of the conversation and feel like a friend or family member.
She says: “The most effective brands that I’ve seen really understand that the performance element is capturing the demand right, but the brand building is creating future demand. When we think about Gen Z, they are increasingly valuing moments that feel meaningful and memorable.
“The future belongs to brands that understand that commerce is emotional as well as transactional. The old assumption was that digital commerce would make everything faster, but what we’re seeing now is that people really want those meaningful moments, they want to be able to create discovery both in real life and those brands that only optimise for the transaction really risk becoming interchangeable.”
