Young people continue to include themselves on holiday gift lists

“This is the season of giving, but young people are not forgetting themselves.

Nearly half of Gen Z (47%) and Millennial (43%) consumers plan to buy a gift for themselves this holiday season, according to researchers at consulting firm Deloitte. This is significantly higher than the 27% of Gen Xers and 15% of baby boomers who plan to do the same.

Value-driven vigilance is taking hold in holiday gift purchases this year, with retailers offering deals and promotions to attract increasingly frugal shoppers (including those who are rethinking how to treat themselves). is hanging.

But during the busy Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday sales weekend, Gen Z shoppers broke with other age groups to expand their gift plans for themselves, increasing from 65% last year to 69% this year. A Deloitte study found that this has increased. Apparel and accessories, health and wellness, electronics, and experiences such as travel and live events are among the most popular categories for this type of holiday shopping.

Lexi Zaragoza, a 26-year-old child social worker in Santa Barbara, Calif., said her biggest personal splurge this year was a gold locket from jewelry brand Catbird.

“At this age, I can buy things for myself, so that’s what I’m going to do,” she said.

Zaragoza has been in his current position for two and a half years, and it’s his first full-time job since earning his master’s degree in 2022. She also teaches cycling fitness classes on the side and said she now earns enough money to comfortably buy things for her loved ones. Adjust for the season and give yourself a treat too.

Like virtually every generation before it, Gen Z and Millennials have been criticized for being spoiled and self-absorbed, but some of their purchasing decisions may seem narcissistic to others. may reflect fundamental economic realities, experts say.

After adjusting for inflation, Gen Z and Millennial workers (typically defined as workers ages 12 to 27 and 28 to 43, respectively) have higher median incomes than their peers in previous generations. They are also more likely to be optimistic about the future. economy.

These two generations are expected to drive holiday sales growth this year, but Gen X and baby boomers are falling behind. Gen Z’s holiday budgets are expected to grow by 37% this season, more than double the 16% expected by Millennials, according to forecasters at accounting firm PwC.

“Gen Z is a big bright spot,” said Lupine Skelly, retail research leader at Deloitte. “They have huge spending potential.”

Part of the reason is that young people are typically less likely to take on the kind of big financial responsibilities that come with starting a family, owning real estate, or caring for an aging loved one. They wait longer to have children and are less likely to take out a mortgage than older generations, given the tough housing market.

Deep socio-economic disparities across the U.S. economy also apply to young people, and many young people from middle- and upper-income households appear to have some influence as consumers. In fact, Gen Z is much more likely to be an authorized user of their parent’s credit card than millennials of the same age, TransUnion’s report earlier this year found.

In some cases, “maybe your parents are still paying for your insurance or your cell phone bill,” Skelly said. “There’s a little more flexibility in the budget.”

Zaragoza said she sees some of these realities among her colleagues. “All my friends, we don’t have children. I think it’s hard for older generations to see us spending money so frivolously, because at their age they don’t think about their families. Because it was.”

But Skelly said many of Gen Z’s purchases are not frivolous. Each year, this group moves further into adulthood and is faced with purchasing the necessities that come with a first job or apartment, from a couch to a car.

“They don’t have as much as the rest of us have,” she said. And with attractive discounts on offer this holiday season, it’s a good time to buy things you need anyway, which would have cost more at other times.

Another factor that may be driving self-gifting is Gen Z’s higher involvement in social influencer marketing. “This is not like advertising on TV,” said Rodney Mason, head of marketing at LTK, the largest creator commerce platform. It’s much more personalized, and “they’re not saying, ‘Hey, go buy these jeans.'”

Instead, influencers deliver daily lifestyle content on platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram that reflect an aspirational version of their viewers’ own lives. “They’re like friends,” Mason said. The friend who “has all the coolest stuff.”

As such, many young social media users leave very personal wish lists. Many people who have been holding off on buying coveted items for months are finally seeing them go on sale, and “they’re going to pull the trigger,” Mason said. Ta.

Retailers are also tailoring their holiday advertising to self-gifters, with brands like Oura Ring emphasizing self-care in recent years. The company said it saw strong sales growth last year after encouraging customers to “give yourself the gift of health.”

This year, the company’s head of marketing told Modern Retail ahead of Black Friday: As the pace of our lives continues to get more and more crazy, it feels so natural to focus on self-care during the holiday season. ”

Zaragoza said she’s looking beyond short-term self-care to investing in items that will last a lifetime.

“Solid gold jewelry, household items, things I was always going to buy,” she said. “So maybe you should get it cheaper now.”