How Gen Z shops in the UK

Key findings

• Personal recommendations are Gen Z’s top discovery channel; 49% discover new products through friends, family or colleagues.
• Traditional media has less impact. Just 12% of Gen Z discover products via TV or radio ads, compared to 27% of older consumers. For print ads, it’s 5% vs. 11%.
• Search engines are less central for Gen Z. Only 35% use search engines to find new products, versus 46% of older generations.
• Gen Z prefers peer-driven research sources. Two-thirds (66%) use social media to research brands, compared to only 35% of older consumers. They also rely more on forums and AI tools.
• Customer service preferences reflect digital habits. Gen Z is much less likely to contact a business by phone (13% vs. 33%) and more likely to prefer live chat, forms, apps, or social media.

Gen Z in the UK—those born in 1997 or later—has grown up with algorithmic feeds, constant connectivity, and commerce that’s only ever a tap away. But their shopping behaviour isn’t purely digital. What sets them apart is not just their fluency in online platforms, but the specific ways they discover, research, and buy—and how those habits shape their relationship with brands.

New insights from YouGov Profiles reveal Gen Z’s most preferred shopping tools and tactics—and how they compare to the generations before them.

Gen Z discovers products through people and browsing, online and IRL

Gen Z’s most common source of product discovery is personal networks. Nearly half (49%) say they learn about new products through recommendations from friends, family, or colleagues, a preference they share with older generations. They also browse online shopping marketplaces (36%) and retail stores (47%) as part of the discovery journey—demonstrating that offline still plays a role.

What distinguishes Gen Z is how much they trust digital personalities and platforms. More than a third (36%) say they discover products through social media influencers or bloggers, more than double the rate among older adults (14%). Similarly, 35% are influenced by online ads on social or web platforms compared to 28% of their elders.

While search engines remain a go-to for older shoppers (46%), Gen Z is less reliant on them, with only 35% saying they use search to discover new products.

Traditional channels play a smaller role. Only 12% of Gen Z cite TV or radio commercials as a discovery method, compared to 27% of older adults. Print media advertising also underperforms, with just 5% of Gen Z naming it as a source of discovery compared to 11% among older consumers.

For research, Gen Z favours social and brand websites

Gen Z does online research before buying, just as older consumer. The difference is that they start with social. Two-thirds (66%) use social media as a research tool, compared only 35% of older consumers. They’re also more likely to consult online forums (28% vs. 19%) and AI chat services (13% vs. 5%).

That said, they’re still likely to extend their research to owned websites (58%), review websites (55%) and online search (52%), which are even more popular among older shoppers.

Purchase paths are omnichannel, not purely digital

While Gen Z is highly digital, they don’t exclusively shop online. In fact, their purchase journeys are quite similar to those of their elders. Browsing online remains a key activity. Almost three quarters (73%) of Gen Z do it before purchasing, but that figure still trails the 80% of older shoppers who say the same. In-store browsing remains common for both groups (51% for Gen Z vs. 53% for others), and Gen Z is nearly as likely to complete their purchase in-store after seeing something there (32% vs. 37%).

Gen Z does take advantage of omnichannel shopping. They are about as likely as older adults to see something online and buy it in-store (23%) or to see something in-store and buy it online (20% vs. 19%). However, click-and-collect behaviour lags among Gen Z (23% vs. 31%), indicating that convenience preferences may differ across age groups.

Purchasing by app is also one of the less-preferred buying options. A fifth of Gen Z (20%) used an app to buy online and 7% used it to purchase in-store.

Contact preferences reflect digital comfort

When it comes to customer service, Gen Z prefers digital communication over voice or face-to-face interaction. Only 13% say they prefer contacting businesses by phone, compared to a much higher 33% of older adults. Instead, Gen Z leans into email (34%), live chat (17%), and online forms (9%).

Notably, Gen Z is also more likely to avoid contacting brands altogether—13% say they never engage directly with businesses, compared to just 6% of older shoppers.