Inside the Gen Z Wallet

Gen Z is the generation every marketing plan is asked to account for, and one of the hardest to read. Many existing insights rest on stated attitudes, platform signals and category assumptions. Those can tell us where Gen Z pays attention and what it says it values; they tell us far less about how it actually spends.

This report starts with the wallet. It looks at how Gen Z spends, where it shops and what matters to it, combining purchase behavior observed across merchants and categories with survey responses on what influences its choices. Reading the two together gives us a clearer view of where stated priorities and actual spending align, and where they don’t.

Spending behavior in this report comes from Attain’s proprietary consumer purchase data, while attitudes come from Attain survey responses. Every figure is indexed against the average U.S. shopper, with 100 representing parity. A short guide to reading the data follows, with full methodology at the end of the report.

The sections that follow move from shopping footprint to wallet mix, category behavior and attitudes, before closing with what it all means for brands. Co-authored in partnership with dentsu, the aim is not to define Gen Z, but to replace assumptions with a clearer view of how it actually spends across the new and growing commerce ecosystem.

‍