Social media platforms have become the new shopping centres for Gen Z, with 39 per cent having made purchases and 76 per cent discovering products through these channels, according to Salesforce’s latest Connected Shoppers Report.
The findings highlight the growing importance of social commerce in capturing the Gen Z market—individuals born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s—who are projected to command up to $9 trillion in global spending power by 2034, surpassing all other generations.
“Social commerce is the latest channel for digital spending that is fragmenting across a constellation of marketplaces, retailer websites, brand sites, and delivery apps, rather than consolidating into a single channel,” Michelle Grant, Director of Retail Strategy and Insights at Salesforce said, adding “brands that fully embrace its potential will be in prime position to capture their share of the growing Gen Z market.”
Gen Z 10 times more likely than boomers to use AI for shopping
The report reveals that 53 per cent of all shoppers now discover products through social platforms, up from 46 per cent in 2023.
While YouTube remains the dominant platform overall, TikTok has emerged as a particular favourite among Gen Z, attracting 40 per cent of younger shoppers compared to just 4 per cent of Baby Boomers.
This shift towards social commerce presents challenges for retailers, who must now navigate a fragmented landscape comprising dozens or even hundreds of platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Gen Z is also adopting artificial intelligence at a higher rate to find and evaluate products. The report found that 54 per cent of Gen Zers have used generative AI for product discovery and evaluation, versus 39 per cent for the total population.
Additionally, Gen Z shoppers are 10 times more likely than Baby Boomers to frequently use AI to discover new products and 2.7 times as likely to want product recommendations from AI agents (63 per cent versus 23 per cent).
Salesforce suggests that retailers need a unified commerce platform that combines AI capabilities, a centralised data foundation, and seamless application interoperability to manage these increasingly complex shopping journeys.
The company’s platform integrates its digital labour platform Agentforce, the Data Cloud hyperscale data platform, and applications like Commerce Cloud to create a cohesive solution that retailers such as Saks can use to target specific demographics and optimise marketing campaigns.
“The deeply unified Salesforce Platform empowers businesses to engage customers across every touchpoint, from TikTok to YouTube, maximising reach and driving sales. And with 24/7 digital labor enabled by the Platform’s agentic layer, Agentforce, companies can manage these omni-channel journeys at scale – without adding significant headcount,” Grant said.
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