GEN Z: THE RETAIL REVIVALISTS
GEN Z: THE RETAIL REVIVALISTS
Digital might drive discovery, but Gen Z is leading the return to the real world. Studio Butch’s latest consumer survey reveals that these digital natives value physical brand experiences more than any other generation, proving that the future of retail isn’t just virtual, it’s deeply tangible.
In a recent national survey, we asked U.S. consumers about their shopping habits, focusing on digitally-native brands—those that exist solely online (excluding marketplaces like Amazon or Wayfair). On average, 67 percent of consumers reported shopping from digitally-native brands recently.
When segmented by generation, the numbers revealed a predictable pattern: the younger the consumer, the more likely they were to buy from digital-first brands. Gen Z reported the highest engagement with digitally-native brands (74%), followed by Millennials and Gen X. Baby Boomers sat at the bottom, though still notably, just over half (53%) reported recently making a purchase from a digital-only brand.
No surprises here.
What might be surprising came next. We asked those same consumers about their perceptions of the relationship between brand credibility and physical space.
Based on generational shopping behaviors, conventional wisdom would suggest that older shoppers would place more value on in-person experience, and that younger shoppers, who are digitally-native at the core, might care less about a physical footprint.
But the data told the opposite story.
Baby Boomers in fact placed the least value on physical presence, with 64 percent reporting that it adds brand credibility (not negligible of course, but notably lower than Gen X at 71% and Millennials at 73%).
And then came Gen Z.
Despite being the most engaged with digitally-native brands, an overwhelming 83 percent of Gen Z consumers said that having a physical retail presence makes a brand feel more credible.
That’s not a subtle shift even from their closest generational counterparts, it’s a trending divergence in consumer behavior and preferences.
So what gives? Why is the most digitally-fluent generation also the one most likely to crave a brand’s real-world presence, and how can brands dial into this important paradox?
PRESENCE AS PROOF
The seemingly paradoxical preferences start to make sense as we zoom out.
Gen Z is the first true, digital-native generation, but that doesn’t mean they want brands to live there exclusively. In fact, their digital fluency makes them more attuned to what feels authentic. Brand trust isn’t built around clever messaging or product reviews (both of which can easily be generated or faked), but around presence.
Showing up in the real world adds weight. It creates a kind of productive friction that signals effort and investment. In an age of filters, bots, and endless brand content, it says, “We’re real. You can find us.”
Gen Z knows digital is fast and easy, but physical space requires effort. And effort builds trust. In this light, physical space becomes a differentiator for Gen Z. It’s not just about convenience or utility, it’s about authenticity.
And that authenticity and trust-building isn’t limited to flagship stores. It can take the form of pop-ups, immersive installations, or traveling experiences. The point isn’t permanence, it’s presence.
In a cultural moment saturated with digital noise, younger consumers are gravitating toward the tangible.
A NEW BRAND EQUATION
With that in mind, what’s emerging is a more nuanced and holistic consumer mindset. One that sees online and offline not as opposites, but as complementary halves of the same brand experience (which in reality they always have been).
The rising generation of consumers are looking for brands that offer a hybrid experience where physical and digital don’t compete, but complement and interrelate.
Think of it as a new kind of ambidexterity: physical space builds trust, digital channels deliver convenience. Together, they create a flywheel of engagement, discovery, and loyalty.
In this model, the brand experience isn’t siloed into physical and digital, it’s a holistic system. And physical presence plays a vital role in connection and making that system feel real.
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Younger consumers’ preferences are reshaping what brand loyalty looks like, and brands have a limited window to integrate.
This divergent trend is setting the tone for rising consumers like Gen Alpha, who will be equipped with even more tools, more choices, and even less patience for brands that don’t (or won’t) walk the walk in the physical world.
The path forward isn’t either/or, it’s yes, and...
This approach doesn’t require massive footprints or overly-expensive builds, but it does require intention, and a willingness to show up where it counts. It also requires strategy that sees real-world moments as vital proof points for the future.
SO WHAT'S NEXT?
If you're already bought into the hybrid future, you’re not alone. Most sophisticated brands today understand that physical and digital aren’t at odds—they’re co-conspirators.
The question now isn’t whether to create real-world experiences. It’s how to make them count. Here are four emerging thought-starters for brands ready to move past the basics:
1. IRL as Cultural Drop Point
Leverage physical presence not just as a point of sale, but as a cultural touchstone. Think ‘flagship experience without needing the flagship.’ Maybe it’s a branded lounge at a festival, a weekend-long takeover of a high-traffic space, or a traveling experience that taps into your target where they are already. Make it more about showing alignment with your audience’s identity than just selling product on-site.
2. Spatial Trust Builders
Don’t just create a space, create credibility in that space. That means embedding authentic storytelling and behind-the-scenes transparency into your brand. It could be QR codes that show product origins, interviews with owners, or bringing your actual customer service team into the pop-up instead of only hiring brand ambassadors. Treat the environment less as a billboard, but as a trust lab. Let consumers peek behind the curtain, and give them reasons to believe.
3. Sensory Echo Loops
Link sensory experiences in-person to your digital ecosystem, and you’ll create cross-channel continuity that lingers even after the experience ends. Shoppers who purchase product collections on-site might be retargeted later with a Spotify playlist inspired by it. Or leverage AR to bridge in-person browsing with exclusive online content tied to the product they are shopping.
4. Co-Creation Moments
Bring consumers into the physical experience, the more they shape the experience, the more invested they are in the brand. Maybe it’s having them contribute to designing new product collections, voting on new features or innovations, or remixing your brand visuals in real-time through interactive installations. These aren’t just novelties, they’re data-gathering moments and powerful brand imprinting tools.
For Gen Z—and the rising Gen Alpha—credibility will increasingly comes from showing up in the right place, with the right intent. Striking the strategic balance becomes one of the most important efforts and powerful tools in a brand’s arsenal. Because in the end, the more digitally native the generation, the more they want something real.
That’s the paradox. And that’s the unlock for the future of brand connection.
xoxo
Post Script: A Quick Note on the Boomers
And just in case you’re wondering… a formidable 64 percent of Baby Boomers still indicated that physical space adds credibility to brands. That number is not, not cogent to the overall argument.
However, for the older generation of consumers, we see that credibility isn’t signaled as strongly by aesthetics or presence, it’s earned through more focused brand benefits. Things like product performance, customer service, and a hassle-free return process carry more weight than whether a brand has a physical store. If the item arrives, works as promised, and the checkout process feels safe, that’s enough to establish trust.
In other words, Boomers aren’t saying physical presence doesn’t help. They’re just less likely to consider it as a primary proof point that matters.
The Studio Butch survey was conducted online to a nation-wide representative sample of the US consumer population age 18 and older. More than 550 responses were collected for the findings, with a margin of error of five percent.
Chris Giovarelli is an experienced creative, strategist and communicator who believes in the power of synergizing left-brain and right-brain thinking to solve problems and produce magical outcomes. He has presented, taught and spoken in dozens of venues on a variety of topics. As co-founder and director of creative strategy at Studio Butch, he and the team work with global and boutique brands to help grow customer affinity through experiences, spaces and content. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email.
At Studio Butch, we help global and boutique brands build customer affinity through activations, spaces and content. Let’s connect to talk about how our unique combination of strategy and creativity can help your brand.
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