The Secret to Reaching Gen-Z Consumers: Offer Them a Little Treat

Brands are making a play for younger consumers with everyday indulgences, rather than traditional luxury items.

BY ALI DONALDSON, STAFF REPORTER @ALICDONALDSON

Gif: Inc.; Photo: Getty Images

Gen Z is feeling exhausted. If brands want to cut through the noise of endless scrolls, paid ads, and AI slop, and appeal to the generation of younger consumers—whose collective spending power is projected to reach $12 trillion by 2030—they need to offer an antidote to that sense of anxiety and market their products as simple pleasures. 

This strategy was a major point of discussion during the National Retail Federation’s annual State of Retail and the Consumer event, which was hosted virtually yesterday. Rachel Hardy, director of consumer product marketing at Pinterest, spoke on one of the panels and said that for Gen Z, “the future is uncertain, and the idea of this five year plan no longer exists.” This demographic, she added, is “seeking comfort, nostalgia and sort of indulgences in those small moments to take care of them.” 

While there is no shortage of TikTok and Instagram videos about “little treat culture,” this is not just a social media trend, said MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer at YPulse, a consumer market research company focused on millennials and Gen Z. This mindset is actually shaping younger consumers’ spending habits.

“Treat culture is absolutely a huge part of their real retail behavior,” said Bliss. “They’re looking for accessible, unexpected, unique, little pieces of joy, and they’re getting that through small products, a lot of the time.”

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For these consumers, the idea of luxury has shifted. As Hardy and Bliss said, it’s less about splurging on a single big-ticket item and more about springing for the everyday things: the treats and the trinkets. 

Brands with a younger customer base have certainly taken notice. Last year, beauty and skincare brands, such as Bubble and Sweet July, followed Rhode’s lead and piled into lip treatments, marketing lip balms, serums, and sticks, which typically cost between $12 and $30, far less than a luxury perfume.

Other companies have leaned into shopping as a self-care routine and embraced their customers’ idiosyncrasies for buying frequently and in bulk. These mostly female consumers do not just buy one Enewton bracelet, or one Kendra Scott necklace, or one accessory for their Bogg bag—they buy a lot.

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