Retail brands are making significant changes to how they approach the holiday season. At the centre of this shift is Gen Z, whose expectations are forcing retailers to change how they connect, advertise, and ultimately sell.
Spending patterns are the first clear signal. With broader concerns around inflation and the economy, many consumers are planning to cut back this season. For Gen Z, that reduction is expected to be even sharper. But the larger issue for brands is not how much this generation is spending, it is how differently they make decisions. Standard holiday promotions are no longer working as they once did.
Influencers and digital creators are now central to holiday messaging. Product discovery is happening through social feeds, often driven by people, not companies. This change is forcing brands to reconsider both format and message. The best campaigns now feel informal and experience-driven rather than transactional.
Gen Z is more open to AI-powered shopping tools and new forms of retail media than older groups. That comfort with digital tools gives brands an opportunity to create more targeted and efficient marketing.
itim Group plc (LON:ITIM) is a SaaS-based technology company that enables store-based retailers to optimise their businesses to improve financial performance and effectively compete with online competitors. Itim adds retail value by helping multi-channel retailers optimise their business and their stores to improve financial performance and compete more effectively with the “Amazons”.
