Gen Z and millennials

Gen Z is still showing a preference for shopping in person despite its digital upbringing, research from payments platform Adyen shows. The company surveyed over 2,000 U.S. consumers across generations.

Almost three-quarters of Gen Z shop in-person at least once a week and the majority consider it an experience, according to Adyen. By comparison, just over one-third of baby boomers consider in-person shopping an experience. Shoppers across all generations report spending more in-store compared to online, the survey found.

Gen Z wants to make the most of its physical shopping experience as lines between online and in-store shopping blur. Adyen's research found Gen Z favors physical stores for their in-store discounts, the ability to own items faster and location convenience. They also see in-person shopping as a source of enjoyment. 

“Gen Z demands shopping experiences that reflect their digital-first mindset — effortless, flexible, and deeply integrated into their daily routines,” Davi Strazza, Adyen’s North America president, said in a statement. “Retailers that align with these expectations will define the next era of commerce.”

To fully enjoy in-person shopping, Gen Z has a standard for their experience. When in stores, 3 in 5 Gen Z respondents will abandon a purchase if the checkout line is long. If their preferred payment method isn’t available, the survey found more than one-quarter of respondents will leave their items behind.

Adyen found that Gen Z prefers to make beauty and luxury purchases in person. By category, 31% of Gen Z prefers to buy beauty in person. For luxury goods, four times as many Gen Z shoppers prefer to make these purchases in-store compared to baby boomers.

Some beauty retailers are finding success with customers by readjusting their focus to shopper experience and loyalty. Ulta Beauty — a beauty retailer consistently favored by young folk, per Piper Sandler’s Taking Stock with Teens survey — is well aware of this connection.

At the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in early 2025, Ulta said its loyalty program is key to the customer experience. Josh Friedman, vice president of digital products at Ulta Beauty, said that 95% of its sales go through the program. 

In efforts to produce a more personalized experience, the beauty company explained its plans of collecting loyalty program data to enhance long-term relationships with the customer. This can include information on how shoppers use products in their daily routines and recommending commonly repurchased items specific to the consumer.

While retailers have a vested interest in understanding all of their shopper demographics, the industry’s youngest customers are always a source of fascination, even before they fully come into their spending power. They represent the future retailers need to build toward, and their preferences will shape investments in the industry in a variety of ways.

Although the youngest Gen Zs just entered their teenage years, attention is already turning to their successors, Gen Alpha. The group is still reliant on their parents for money, but they’re already influencing purchase decisions. According to Holden Bale, global chief strategy officer of Merkle, almost 75% of Gen Alpha members are already driving purchase decisions.

“I don't know if you've had a conversation with a child recently,” Bale said during a presentation at Shoptalk Spring, noting that in a recent discussion over where to go for dinner a seven-year-old girl “made all the decisions for me. I had no input.”

While it’s too early to say many things about Gen Alpha, if they follow in Gen Z’s path they’ll likely be digitally savvy and have a penchant for in-store shopping. According to Merkle, 81% of Gen Z prefer shopping in person to online, which is higher than every other generation.

In the wake of the conference, here’s how a few different retailers are thinking through the store experience for some of retail’s youngest shoppers.

Sephora

In the era of Sephora kids, the beauty retailer is well aware of the allure of its stores for young shoppers, even as they’re more digitally aware than ever.

“It's about play,” Celessa Baker, vice president of marketing partnerships for Sephora, said of the company’s stores. “Consumers come in to touch, feel, but what we are noticing is they're on their phones. So they are looking at product on their phone.”

Shoppers are checking out ratings and reviews, looking at influencer and creator content, and consuming that information throughout their shopping journey in stores, Baker said. Meanwhile, store associates are there to give guidance and the retailer hosts events and brand days where different companies can educate consumers on a product. Beauty is a tactile space, which makes stores appealing even as online content flourishes. For Gen Z and Gen Alpha in particular, Sephora “is really their playground.” 

“I used to hang out at a mall. It's no different. My daughter wants to hang out in a mall,” Baker said. “Sephora happens to be a trending space right now, so I will take it. You just have to educate the younger consumers on appropriate behavior as they’re in the stores and what that looks like. But I think as long as you are rooted in discovery, in visualization — and you’re a warm and welcoming place, that digital, offline, the content, the storytelling, will ultimately lead to a path to purchase in store.”

Foot Locker

At Foot Locker, appealing to younger generations comes in multiple forms, with Gen Alpha likely shopping its Kids Foot Locker format and older teens graduating to its namesake banner. When it comes to the youngest of shoppers, though, Foot Locker’s approach is two-fold. 

For Gen Alpha themselves, Global Chief Customer Officer Kim Waldmann said the retailer has spent a lot of time looking to understand the group, including their fluency with technology. She noted that Gen Alpha is the first truly digitally native generation, in that they were born with more advanced mobile phones, and they therefore start engaging with YouTube videos, product reviews and other such content early on.

“The point is, by the time that kid is going into the mall with his parents, he already knows about product and brands, right? He already has preferences, and so he's really driving the choice in that store environment in a way that maybe kids didn't in the past,” Waldmann said.

She noted that Gen Alpha kids are more independent than their predecessors, so Foot Locker has designed its revamped Kids Foot Locker locations to allow them to drive their own experience and be able to customize products. But as independent as kids are these days, their parents are still footing the bill.

President Frank Bracken said the retailer has thought of them too, with kids’ activity tables in stores so parents can keep them entertained if they’re shopping for multiple children at once. A technology-enabled sizing experience will tell kids not just what size they are, but how much they’ve grown since the last time they came into the store. The retailer’s store associates are educated on different products and brands, and also expect different things based on the location of the store.

“If you're at Aventura Mall, you're getting a broad swath of consumers where, if you're on 49th Street in Philadelphia, a more multicultural sort of urban setting, you know you're going to get more sneaker mavens who are into basketball and sneaker releases,” Bracken said. “Our store teams, our managers, our striper staff are very acute and aware of those things.”

Toys R Us

Toys R Us’ strategy to appeal to the kids of today, and recover its place in the market after a 2017 bankruptcy that erased its store footprint, includes leveraging its IP in the entertainment industry, hosting in-store events and giving Geoffrey the giraffe a birthday.

Taking inspiration from Sesame Street’s Elmo, Geoffrey is perpetually nine and a half years old, but the toy retailer still celebrates his birthday every year. With a presence across 1,500 stores in 34 countries, Kim Miller, global chief marketing officer for toys at Toys R Us parent WHP Global, says the mascot’s birthday has become “an international holiday.”

Celebrated on Oct. 17, Geoffrey’s birthday has drawn participation from brand partners including Mattel. Toys R Us has also built the giraffe a 1.1 million-strong following on TikTok and has a photo opp with Geoffrey on a bench in every store. Those moves help the brand stay young, despite its growing age.

“You don't want a grumpy 50-year-old giraffe as your mascot down the road,” Miller said, noting that the relationship between fans and Geoffrey is still strong, even for adults who remember the mascot from their childhoods. “We've been to Comic-Con and had 35-year-old men cry when they hug Geoffrey the giraffe, remembering their experience as kids.”

Toys R Us is tapping further into the adult demographic through partnerships with entertainment franchises like Golden Girls, among others, and is hoping to connect with both adults and children via an upcoming movie and in-store events. As to the latter, Miller touted special play days that include local DJs, parades leading up to the storefront and a theme surrounding some form of play, like a Hasbro-run game day or a make-believe day.

“It's bringing that experience to the stores, to the actual physical retail today — and that's the distinguisher between just going on Amazon and typing something in and actually really trying to feel the magic,” Miller said.

Coach

Appealing to U.S. Gen Zers has required a feat of repositioning at Coach, which just three years ago was being perceived as “their mother’s brand,” according to Giovanni Zaccariello, senior vice president of global visual experience. That perception led Coach to lean into “expressive luxury,” a strategy focused on meeting Gen Z shoppers differently.

“Now, they actually think we are their brand after a few years of transformation,” Zaccariello said.

Coach has experimented with its store experience to better align with what Gen Z is looking for, which includes more experiential retail and deeper connections with the brands they shop. One example of that, a concept called Coach Play, which has 12 different locations, is localized to the city it operates in and created based on interviews with store managers and other efforts to understand the local consumer. Zaccariello stressed that trusting regional teams is crucial to the success of these locations.

“Each of them are incredibly bespoke, which means more work, also incredibly local. We don't only speak to the city, but we speak to the neighborhood. Those locations are laboratories for Coach and what we learn in those 12 locations we then roll out around the world,”  Zaccariello said. “So, for example, the first Coach coffee shop actually was introduced in our Coach Play location in Singapore three years ago. Now, we have a rollout plan so you can see how the laboratory and testing and learning kind of works.”

Product customization is also big at these locations, with shoppers able to make cosmetic changes to their Tabby handbags that are removable — a selling point for young shoppers in particular.

“It's not a permanent customization,” Zaccariello said, saying much can be done with charms, handbag straps and stickers. “You want to buy that beautiful Tabby bag and you want to wear it in the evening, at night, for the weekend — so you don't want to put something on top of it and then you cannot wear it anymore, right? Because for a Gen Z, that might be the only bag they can afford.”

Even the layout of these locations is tailored to Gen Z’s preferences — and Coach considers it a win even if Gen Z shoppers aren’t buying anything. Zaccariello noted that one key performance indicator is simply how many Gen Z shoppers are crossing a store’s lease line, and another is how much time they spend there, whether that leads to a purchase or not.

“We will not start a brief without KPIs. So I will personally not design anything unless I know, what does success look like?” Zaccariello said. “Is this for brand building? Is this for traffic driving? Like, how do we know if this is successful?”

American Girl

American Girl is proof that a toy retailer can sell much more than just a doll, while still undeniably being a doll company. The ’80s-era retailer, which opened its first store in 1998, does nail painting, ear piercing and hair styling for children and their chosen doll, and allows them to have tea or lunch with their 18-inch friends at in-store cafes.

In fact, the salon and cafe experiences are so popular that shoppers “have to reserve well in advance” and often call in to say they couldn’t get a spot at a certain time, Jamie Cygielman, general manager and president of American Girl at toy manufacturer Mattel, said. While technology might be present to assist with the experience, like choosing a hairstyle from an iPad or exploring YouTube content throughout the store, American Girl’s selling points are very much in the physical world.

“It was designed to create a place to celebrate girlhood,” Cygielman said of the retailer’s first store in Chicago.

Now, a generation later, Gen Z and millennials still come back to the stores to bask in nostalgia or guide their own kids through the experience, according to Cygielman. 

“We see a lot of original Samantha dolls in the store,” Cygielman said, referencing one of American Girl’s first dolls. “It's the one item that everybody saves and passes down to the next generation or holds for themselves. And so it's really important to make sure that we are still leaning into the legacy — what made this brand so special, the storytelling, the original heroines that were based on different moments in American history. But then also to speak to the child, we've got to bring forward new stories and technology and new ways of giving that storytelling.” 

That means evolving from American Girl print books to also offer a YouTube series, gaming options and more storytelling geared toward a digital generation. There’s also now a build-your-own-doll program on American Girl’s website that allows for 1,000 different permutations. Originally, the option was offered in stores as well, but shoppers were avoiding it because they wanted the benefit of walking out with their doll that day.

The solution for stores, developed later, is called “style guide” and lets kids choose a doll from a whole wall of different options and customize the doll’s clothes, accessories and other things from there. They can choose a pet for the doll, write a background up for the doll and take a selfie at the end of the experience with their new purchase.

Sponsored content

By Sezzle

The rules of retail loyalty have changed—and Gen Z is rewriting the playbook. This generation isn’t looking for punch cards, generic emails, or endless points programs. Instead, they crave personalization, financial flexibility and brand experiences that reflect their values and realities. For retailers, that means one thing: loyalty today is built not through gimmicks, but through trust and utility.

Enter Sezzle.

As a mission-driven fintech platform, Sezzle is helping retailers connect with Gen Z shoppers in ways traditional loyalty programs simply can’t. Sezzle offers Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services that let consumers split purchases into interest-free payments—empowering shoppers to budget responsibly without incurring debt or interest. With additional features like wishlists, personalized offers and financial empowerment tools like Sezzle Up and Money IQ, Sezzle is more than a checkout option—it’s an engine for long-term customer engagement.

Why traditional loyalty programs are falling flat

Loyalty used to be transactional: spend more, earn more. But Gen Z isn’t playing that game. They’re financially stressed—especially those carrying student loan debt—and they’re shopping with purpose. A recent survey of Sezzle users found that 45% of users with student loans feel financially stressed, and 35% are using BNPL to purchase everyday essentials, not just splurges. That signals a major shift in how and why young consumers engage with brands.

They don’t want flashy perks—they want flexibility, transparency and tools that make shopping easier. And most retailers aren’t equipped to build that kind of ecosystem from scratch.

Sezzle’s built-in loyalty infrastructure

That’s where Sezzle stands out. Retailers that partner with Sezzle gain instant access to a robust suite of consumer-first features designed to build loyalty over time.

• Interest-free installments: Sezzle’s BNPL model mainly offers four equal, interest-free payments over six weeks—giving shoppers flexibility without the burden of high-interest debt. This not only increases conversions, it builds long-term trust. Additional flexible payment options are also available to meet shoppers' unique paycheck cycles.
• Wishlists & personalized offers: Sezzle users can save products they love and get notified of when the price of the items drops. This drives natural re-engagement, giving brands repeat visibility without costly retargeting campaigns.
• Sezzle marketplace: Retailers featured in Sezzle’s curated marketplace gain discovery among high-intent shoppers already primed for flexible payments. This puts your brand in front of a community that’s financially empowered and actively shopping.
• Flexible payments everywhere: Through Sezzle On-Demand and Sezzle Anywhere, consumers can use Sezzle virtually anywhere they shop, giving them the power to pay how they want, when they want. That flexibility drives both trust and conversion.
  Financial literacy: Money IQ rewards users for proactively pursuing financial education across 75 topics from understanding interest to budgeting techniques.
• Credit reporting: As the first BNPL to offer an opt-in credit reporting program, customers who make on-time payments while enrolled in Sezzle Up have an opportunity to enhance their credit file - helping shoppers achieve financial freedom and take control over their finances.

Real loyalty starts with real value

For retailers, this isn’t just about payments—it’s about aligning with a platform Gen Z trusts. Sezzle delivers more than a checkout option; it creates an experience rooted in flexibility, financial empowerment and repeat engagement.

As student loan balances begin to affect credit scores again, shoppers are leaning into tools that help them manage spending without sacrificing what they need. In fact, 16% of Sezzle users with student loans say they’re using the platform more often—proof that flexible, responsible solutions like BNPL are becoming an essential part of the Gen Z shopping journey.

Retailers who partner with Sezzle tap into this momentum—offering the kind of value and support that builds long-term loyalty in a changing financial landscape.

Retailers don’t need to reinvent the wheel—just partner smarter

In a retail landscape full of noise and fleeting trends, Sezzle offers a direct line to what Gen Z truly values: responsible spending, meaningful rewards and financial empowerment. Retailers that plug into this ecosystem gain more than just a payment option—they gain a loyalty engine already built for the next generation of shoppers.

As customer acquisition costs rise and wallet share becomes harder to earn, the smartest brands won’t try to build loyalty programs from scratch. They’ll partner with platforms like Sezzle that already have Gen Z’s trust—and deliver the tools to keep it.

Ugg dethroned Lululemon as a top fashion brand for upper income teen women, according to Piper Sandler’s 49th semi-annual Taking Stock with Teens survey that polled 6,455 teens nationwide. Until now, Lululemon held the top spot among brand favorites since spring 2018.

E.l.f. Cosmetics remains the No. 1 beauty brand for teens, followed by Rare Beauty and Maybelline. Sephora remains the top beauty destination, ahead of Ulta and Bath & Body Works. Bath & Body Works ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 2018.

Nike is still the top clothing brand for upper income teens, across clothing and footwear. Amazon remains the top shopping website, as shown in fall 2024’s survey.

Teens are continuing to increase their spending, which was up 6% year over year to $2,388, the survey found. Beauty spending was up, too, and reached its highest level during the spring 2025 survey at $374. 

Younger generations prefer to shop for beauty in-person and shopping in stores leads to more spending, research from Adyen found.

After Nike, teens also prefer Hollister then American Eagle as clothing brands. For footwear, almost half of all teens chose Nike as their favorite brand, followed by Adidas and Ugg. Nike remained the top brand, even as its footwear sales have plunged.

For social media, almost half of all teens choose TikTok as their top platform. A recent Fiver report found that half of U.S. Gen Z customers shopped from TikTok’s e-commerce segment for the recent holiday season. Instagram and Snapchat rounded out the top three for favorite teen apps, according to Piper Sandler.

It wasn’t until nearly five years after it launched that Rare Beauty, the beauty and cosmetics line founded by Selena Gomez, ran a major ad campaign. When the effort debuted in fall 2024, the celebrity-led upstart was by then estimated to be worth billions and already in vogue with a choosy Gen Z audience that has reshaped category trends thanks to apps like TikTok. 

Rare Beauty’s rise is a case study in how many of today’s buzziest brands are built: Influencer-first and reliant on fervent online followings to spread word-of-mouth rather than the pillars of traditional paid media. E.l.f. Cosmetics, a top brand in the vertical, had a similar path to success, with an early focus on microinfluencers to entrench a dedicated audience. 

At South By Southwest last weekend, Rare Beauty Chief Marketing Officer Katie Welch compared her community-oriented marketing approach to developing a lasting friendship that needs constant care and two-way communication. Trust and transparency are necessary to ensure that such relationships don’t sour in an always-on digital age and as businesses enact changes like price increases, according to the executive.

“The best ideas are going to come from your audience. Ask, listen, shape your brand around those real needs,” said Welch, a cosmetics veteran who got in on the ground floor of Rare Beauty in 2019. “The second idea: you have to show up consistently. Community is not a one-off campaign. It is a long-term commitment.”

Rare Beauty in 2024 ranked as the second most-popular beauty brand among teens, according to Piper Sandler, landing behind E.l.f. and ahead of legacy brands like Maybelline. 

Navigating tumult

Rare Beauty, which positions itself around mental health causes, had a rollout that could easily have been hamstrung. Before it even had a product to sell, the brand was ramping up outreach to a diverse group of people who could accurately represent dozens of shades of foundation. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, throwing marketing strategies and the world at large into tumult.

Rather than pump the brakes, Rare Beauty kept up communication with its followers, hosting weekly Zoom calls, dubbed Rare Chats, that have become a signature piece of company lore. A concrete brand purpose helped Rare Beauty navigate the storm of the global health crisis, Welch explained. 

“All of a sudden, our mission became more important than ever. We knew that we had to connect people,” she said. 

Providing mental health support and addressing the loneliness epidemic among young people has been a mission since the brand’s inception. Gomez, a former child TV star, has been subject to public scrutiny over her looks for decades, and wanted to create a platform to encourage self-acceptance and confidence.

As with community management, Welch cautioned that purpose needs to be ingrained in a brand’s ethos versus an auxiliary marketing tactic. Rare Beauty’s commitment to social issues and inclusivity could be an important differentiator as other brands retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion due to political pressure.

“Brand purpose is not just a marketing play. If you’re going to do it, you have to commit,” said Welch. “It’s not just to generate sales or buzz. Honestly, Gen Z — your audience — will start to see through that.”

Community in focus

Rare Chats led the brand to realize that many young consumers were not getting sufficient mental health resources from school or at home. Rare Beauty eventually established a Rare Beauty Mental Health Council drawing on expertise from across mental health, nonprofit and medical fields that is now five years running, along with introducing a fund that supports 30 nonprofit organizations with grants and contributions. 

In the meantime, moments of consumer connection have made the jump to the real world. Rare Beauty hosts regular summits on mental health while Rare Chats have transitioned to in-person meetups like hikes, breathwork sessions and Sephora shopping trips. Such activations aren’t as measurable as conventional marketing tactics but keep a finger on the pulse of the Rare Beauty fanbase.  

“There’s no real KPI. It’s just, what’s the sentiment?” said Welch in response to an audience question. “Does it seem like people want to be there? Is it fun?” 

Rare Beauty handles almost all of its social and creative in-house but turned to Fred & Farid Los Angeles for “Every Side of You,” its first global brand campaign and a piece of a larger “Love Your Rare” messaging platform. The effort, which debuted in October 2024, shines a light on the range of people in Rare Beauty’s community, with voiceover provided by Gomez. Media spans social, out-of-home, Sephora retail touchpoints, connected TV, influencer marketing and paid digital.

Rare Beauty has made other plays at the big leagues: The direct-to-consumer brand mulled a sale for up to $2 billion in 2024 before putting that process on hold, Axios reported in September that year. Whether Rare Beauty could preserve its deep-rooted community orientation under a larger cosmetics group is an open question. Welch sounded confident that the business has successfully fostered long-term loyalty and pushed other brands to pursue a similar route to growing consumer favor. 

“True loyalty will come from the experiences where people feel valued just beyond a purchase. I really believe any brand can do this,” said Welch. “I can argue not every brand has to have a brand purpose but I do think every brand should have a community. That’s why you exist.”

While Stanley 1913 — and specifically its Quencher water bottle — may have experienced a strong surge of virality a few years ago, its leadership now feels the brand has moved beyond that flash-in-the-pan energy and into a more enduring place in the American psyche.

“Very early on we started talking about the Stanley lifestyle, ensuring that we're becoming a lifestyle brand and we're not just a hot cup company. ‘Hot cup company’ is really dangerous for brands,” Matt Navarro, global president of PMI WW Brands, which owns Stanley 1913, said in an interview. Stanley, he believes, has “pushed past that” marker. “Quencher is incredibly popular. It's still our best-selling product … but we certainly are still working really hard to make sure that around the world, frankly, we're looked at in many places in people's lives, not just the Quencher use case.”

It’s about time, too. Although Stanley earned a spot on Circana’s list of fastest-growing outdoor brands in 2024, chatter has already begun about its inevitable demise across a variety of social platforms. After all, wasn’t there the year of the Owala and the Hydro Flask as well?

Some research also points to fading interest in Stanley’s drinkware. In Piper Sandler’s most recent survey of teen shoppers, Stanley cups and tumblers were ranked as a top 5 fashion trend by female teens, next to the likes of Uggs and hoodies. However, those same water bottles were also listed as a top 5 fashion trend that’s on its way out, according to those same teens.

“It's much more than a viral moment,” Navarro said. “We're in year five of the virality and really turning to, how do we set this brand up for the next 100 years? Which for me is really rooted in: How do we create the Stanley lifestyle? And really, we call ourselves a lifestyle brand, but how do we make sure we show up to consumers that way?”

From Stanley cup to Stanley… cooler?

Navarro wasn’t sure about Stanley when he first saw a job opportunity there. Coming from Amer Sports, owner of Arc’teryx and Wilson Sporting Goods, he wanted something that was a closer match to his experience. But he warmed to the idea of “breathing life back into” a century-old brand that had gone quiet.

“The reality is nobody had heard from us in about 30 years,” Navarro said. 

Thus began an effort to modernize the brand and take advantage of white space in the market by leaning hard into hydration. That focus is representative of Stanley’s third “era,” in Navarro’s eyes, the first being as a provider of hot food and beverage storage for workers in the early 1900s and the second as it transformed into an outdoorsy brand around the ‘60s. With the brand’s newest era also came its crown-wearing, wing-toting mythical bear logo, inspired by the many tall tales of customer encounters with a bear and their Stanley.

“It was really finding the white space, I think, in that category that was being untapped around Gen Z, a more female consumer,” Navarro said of its current hydration era. “Also taking our product from utility more to like cultural icon and being part of your fashion, part of trend, part of lifestyle, connection to culture. Which, frankly, previous to 2020, nobody thought about water bottles that way. And today, people are every day matching them to outfits and prom dresses and fun things like that.”

The more intense of Stanley’s fan base collect the brand’s Quencher tumblers — and Stanley leans into that behavior with limited-edition colors and launches around holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. The retailer has partnerships with celebrities as far apart as Olivia Rodrigo and Lionel Messi, though Navarro stresses that the retailer looks for authentic fans of the brand to partner with in that way.

The goal? “To make sure we're right at the heart of culture, and I would say specifically youth culture,” Navarro said. “Now that we have that Stanley consumer, it's like, how do we meet them within more places throughout their lives?” 

That means not just leaning into the Quencher and handy accessories like straws, but building up hydration options for athletes, parents and others. The company’s IceFlow bottle franchise is also quite popular, according to Navarro, as are some of its storage options. And the retailer is looking at new categories as well. Coolers and “wearable water” are two of those opportunities Stanley plans to lean into.

Portable beveragewear as a category is on the rise, according to data from Circana. The segment grew 15% in 2024, reaching $3.1 billion, and is also generating sales at sporting goods retailers. According to the data firm, sporting goods companies saw sales of water bottles and other insulated containers grow 14% in 2024, on top of 38% growth the year prior.

“I actually think we've been able to be a disrupter in a space that had stayed a little stagnant for a while. I think we're pushing the envelope there,” Navarro said, calling its cross bottle the first nonround vacuum and “truly innovative” in the category. “We're learning as we go too, right? But it's super cool and fun to be doing something nobody's ever done before.” 

Material, color and finish can also be innovated further, according to Navarro, and that includes making them more sustainable. Most of the brand’s products use 90% or more recycled stainless steel and Stanley continues to be focused on eliminating single-use plastic.

Even if consumers in the U.S. begin to tire of the Stanley fandom, there’s still the rest of the world. Diversifying its shoppers to include global consumers is a “key part” of the brand’s strategy, and Stanley is already “growing really fast” in Europe, Asia and Australia, among other places. While Stanley has a global product range, the regions themselves can choose which items to sell that will have the most local relevance, and Stanley is pursuing partnerships and collaborations unique to those regions as well.

Of course, there’s a downside to all the popularity Stanley has accrued. Dupes of the real thing abound, from various online sites to products from its name-brand competitors created in response to the phenomenon. While frustrating, Navarro says it ultimately doesn’t impact the water bottle brand that much.

“People care a lot about the brand and the logo, and that's because we've curated this lifestyle and what we stand for,” Navarro said. “You can buy a Quencher without the Stanley logo on it from dozens and dozens of companies, but we're still No. 1 by a lot … [Shoppers] care about the brand and they connect the brand with their life and their lifestyle — and that's what really matters.”

Shoppers in the U.S. under 60 spent an average $708 on TikTok Shop in 2024, according to a February consumer survey by PartnerCentric. These shoppers are spending an average $59 per TikTok Shop purchase.

Across categories, the most popular TikTok Shop purchase for survey respondents is personal accessories, followed closely by household items. 

Gen Z has embraced TikTok the most among generations, followed by millennials, then Gen X, according to PartnerCentric, a finding that other data frequently shows.

Most consumers already use TikTok for entertainment and almost all of those PartnerCentric surveyed, 9 in 10, report using TikTok, with over half using it daily. But TikTok has now become a shopping destination, too.

For many shoppers, the purchases are not well thought out and TikTok Shop still comes with its pain points, according to the survey. 

Nearly one-quarter of shoppers in the survey reported making an impulse purchase on TikTok Shop. Almost one-quarter of respondents say they regret at least one TikTok Shop purchase. The top regret amongst these shoppers was that the item was of cheaper quality. 

However, more shoppers are trusting influencers with their money when it comes to deciding their purchases. Survey respondents report they would spend an average $95 on items recommended by their most-trusted influencer.

Influencers have a vast reach as nearly two-thirds of U.S. shoppers under 60 take purchase suggestions from influencers. These shoppers report that nearly half of their TikTok Shop purchases came from influencer posts.

Brands like E.l.f. Cosmetics have leveraged TikTok Shop’s Super Brand Day sales events. For one day, a brand is featured on TikTok Shop, typically with sales and freebies. The beauty brand capitalized on a mini version of its Power Grip Primer, which garnered attention from the social platform, as a free item for purchases over $15.

TikTok Shop as a business has grown significantly. During the most recent Black Friday, TikTok Shop sales surpassed $100 million, triple the amount spent during the previous year.

The fate of TikTok remains undecided, as the law enacting a ban of the platform was delayed. Consumers still frequent TikTok Shop despite its ever-changing status. Factoring in the app’s ban period, the customer experience for users has varied. Though the ban was delayed, since January, over 2 in 5 shoppers say the app has changed, PartnerCentric found. 

It wasn’t that long ago that tween retail — the demographic largely known as pre-teenagers between ages 9 to 12 — were still considered a viable market. 

But, Jessica Ramírez, a senior research analyst at Jane Hali and Associates, said the tween retail market has dwindled due to a decline in birth rates.

“Birth rates have continued to drop down.” Ramírez said. “So it's not a market that necessarily is thriving. And a lot of these companies, I mean, they just went out of business. If you look at birth rates, it's quite tough. It's not necessarily up on the rise, even if there's been some slight hits, it's not significant enough. So strategically, you do have to get out of those categories.”

Some may say social media with its influencer marketing is to blame. Others say a lack of media catered to tweens, the COVID-19 pandemic or all of the above had an impact.

But, according to Leela Ramdeen, vice president of strategy at Refuel Agency, companies need more than a good marketing plan to stay relevant. 

“I think some of them just didn't change their inventory,” Ramdeen said. “So it's not just the advertising, but it's also the new, fresh look. It's got to evolve as well. Not saying you completely depart from what made you you, but I do think that some of the common threads that caused them to move back is because of their product line.” 

Retailers like Maurices, Francesca’s and Victoria’s Secret in recent years have expanded their product lines to include the demographic. Some beloved brands are making their way back. Here are five retailers who once dominated the tween space and where they are now:

Limited Too

Not many on this list have staged a revival since their glory days. Limited Too, a brand in the Bluestar Alliance portfolio, first teased a comeback in early June 2024 through Instagram. In July of that year, Limited Too relaunched with an assortment at Kohl’s by its original designers after a 15-year hiatus.

Established in 1987, Limited Too was part of L Brands and the first of two Limited spinoffs, the other being Limited Express. Due to Limited Too’s success, it was branched off from The Limited in 1999 as Too, Inc. In 2004, Limited Too launched Justice and in 2006 Too Inc. changed its name to Tween Brands.

Then in 2008, Limited Too was discontinued and most of its stores transitioned to Justice locations. In 2009, Ascena Retail Group acquired Tween Brands. Then in 2015, Limited Too was acquired by Bluestar Alliance.

In 2017, the brand made a brief appearance in New York City with a pop-up shop open for a few days in August, ahead of the back-to-school season.

J.C. Penney carries some of its watch sets online. Limited Too apparel and other accessories are also sold online at Amazon, Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club.

Wet Seal

Associated with a slew of hit mall stores in the 1990s, Wet Seal’s origins date back to 1962, when the brand was founded by Lorne Huycke in Newport Beach, California.

In 1995, Wet Seal purchased the Contempo Casuals women’s clothing chain for $1 million in stock from the Neiman Marcus Group. That same year, Canadian chain Suzy Shier then acquired Wet Seal and 21 Rampage stores in 1997. By this time in the late ‘90s, Wet Seal operated a total of 370 junior stores, consisting of 133 Wet Seal units and 237 Contempo Casuals stores. Wet Seal launched its adult-focused Arden B brand in 1998.

Various C-suite switchups during the 2000s contributed to a frenzy of shake ups within the brand. In 2003, CEO Kathy Bronstein was forced out, and by 2004 both brand president Allan Haims resigned as well as chairman and CEO Peter Whitford resigned.

By the 2010s, things worsened for the Southern Californian retailer.

Wet Seal abandoned Arden B in April 2014 in an effort to focus on its namesake and save some $1.3 million in annual pre tax costs, since it already wasn’t doing financially well at the time.

In total, 54 Arden B stores closed alongside its website. The company replaced this with its inclusive sizing iteration, Wet Seal Plus, alongside standard Wet Seal stores.

Then, in 2015, Wet Seal closed 338 stores without warning. This sparked online outrage as employees were blindsided by the news, posting #ForgetWetSeal and #BoycottWetSeal online and through handwritten posters on store doors.

By early 2015, Wet Seal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Before filing, the company lost over $150 million in just two years and defaulted on $27 million of debt. By April 2015, private equity firm Versa bought the company for $7.5 million. Wet Seal was acquired by the Gordon Brothers for $3 million in 2017 and still owns the brand.

Wet Seal hasn’t posted to its Instagram since 2021. Its bio leads to a broken Walmart shopping link. However Walmart does promote one Wet Seal item online. Wet Seal’s LinkedIn page doesn’t seem to be updated either, still citing 168 stores in 40 states and an e-commerce business.

Justice

One of the most recognizable names in tween fashion, Justice’s history ties actually in with another retailer on our list. In 2004, Limited Too launched the Justice brand and in 2006 Too Inc. changed its name to Tween Brands. 

Ascena Retail Group then acquired Tween Brands in 2009. At one point, Justice was its parent company's top breadwinner with consistently surging sales during quarterly earnings. During first quarter earnings in 2018, the Justice brand’s comps surged 12%. This in part was due to membership enrollment for the brand’s loyalty program, Club Justice. At the time, over 4.4 million customers were enrolled and loyalty program purchases accounted for an estimated 70% of sales.

Justice served as Ascena Retail Group’s most successful banner. In 2018, Andrew Clarke, former merchandising chief at Justice was named president of Loft, another brand in the Ascena portfolio.

The tween retailer was also known for its collaborations with kids TV shows popular during its wonder years, including “iCarly” and "Liv and Maddie.”

In a brief 2018 stint, the company did try to dip its toes into entertainment, launching original content under Justice Studios such as a graphic novel series, “Ultra Squad.”

But it wasn’t enough and in October 2020, the beloved tween brand agreed to be sold to Premier Brands Justice as part of a bankruptcy plan for parent company Ascena Retail Group. However, Bluestar later outbid them and acquired the company.

In April 2021, Bluestar Alliance relaunched Justice online. Then in July, Walmart introduced the brand to about half of its stores and site. The retail giant introduced a Justice assortment of tween fashion, bedding, backpacks, tech accessories and more, with President of Bluestar Alliance Ralph Gindi stating the move was “such a natural fit.” From here, various collaboration collections dropped over the years with the PowerPuff Girls, Minecraft, and most recently, the “Wicked” movie.

Additionally, Shopjustice.com has all of the brand’s clothing and lifestyle items. Per its site, Justice reports it has no plans to open physical locations. With its core audience still in mind, the company also runs a blog with posts like a tween style guide for parents and an ultimate sleepover kit for tweens.

In a letter to customers on its website, Justice hinted at the return of some brand classics including Justice Denim and former athleisure line Collection X by Justice. The company also said its loyalty program, Club Justice, will be relaunched, per the brand.

Delia’s

Delia’s Inc. first made strides in the 1990s with its signature mail catalog becoming a pop culture phenomenon for tweens and teenagers. Delia’s was a clothing brand founded in 1993 aimed at girls and young women who’d be considered millennials and Gen Z today.

In December 2014, Delia’s filed for bankruptcy and closed its physical stores.

Months earlier, the once popular teen retailer said it would explore a sale or merger after receiving interest about a takeover, but was unable to find a buyer in time. Declines in mall traffic and overall sales at the time led to the outcome and Delia’s also hinted that it may not have enough cash to last the year. 

Shortly after, Delia’s attempted a comeback in August 2015. Pivoting to online-only sales, Delia’s return also came with a monthly print catalog and shoppable Instagram. Later that year, the company took its original print strategy in a different direction, releasing a holiday catalog in November with lifestyle content such as interviews and recipes.

In November 2018, the brand was again revived as Delia’s by Dolls Kill in a 70-piece collection. 

“Every 90’s girl remembers the Delia’s catalog hitting her mailbox,” Dolls Kill co-founder Shaudi Lynn said in a statement at the time. “Tearing through the pages, coveting the ‘it girl’ looks. Delia’s was an obsession, shaped a culture, and left a permanent tattoo on a generation. We've always been inspired by Delias’ vintage, original style, and it felt like the right time to introduce it to a whole new generation.”

At the time, Dolls Kill hinted at additional drops in 2019 and the online retailer still hosts Delia’s revival to this day. Delia’s is sold as a collection at Dolls Kill and Delia’s Instagram points fans to shop its items exclusively at the online retailer.

Delia’s reportedly still creates monthly catalogs, per Instagram photos similar to its early 2000s print style. Delia’s is here for the nostalgia with frequent posts reminiscing on its early catalog days and Y2K aesthetic.

Claire’s

The one-stop destination for young girls to get their ears pierced, non-prescription neon pink fashion nerd glasses and scrunchies in every color has seen lots of internal changes since its early mall days.

But to marketing expert Ramdeen, Claire’s has maintained a consistent image for awhile.

“You've got so much competition out there, and you can see a brand like Nike, they've always evolved,” Ramdeen said. “There's always been the fundamental look of the brand. But as they've grown, they've evolved and changed certain things. And I don't know, I've gone into Claire's, and I feel like it's looked the same, you know, for a while.”

Claire’s first filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, swamped by debt from a private equity takeover. By October that year, the retailer was able to exit Chapter 11 and eliminated $1.9 billion in debt and gained access to $575 million in new capital.

Beyond its mall stores, in 2018 Claire’s struck a partnership with Walmart to include its products and piercing services at the big-box retailer. This was expanded in 2022 to include 1,200 stores.

In 2021 Claire’s filed for an initial public offering just three years post-bankruptcy. At the time, the retailer still carried nearly $500 million in long-term debt plus an over $400 million derivative liability.

The company took a page out of its own book and reconvened with the strategy of smaller shops in larger stores. In 2022, Claire’s shop-in-shops entered 21 Macy’s locations, including eight flagship stores.

In July 2023, Claire’s postponed its plans to make the company public. CEO Ryan Vero cited public equity market conditions as to why the decision was made with plans to “focus on strategic initiatives.” 

Claire’s also has displays in over 4,400 Walgreens stores as of early 2024. Claire’s has enacted partnerships with over 40 retailers across grocery, drug, toy, apparel and department store segments.

Additionally, in June 2024 Vero stepped down from his position alongside the company’s board of managers. Claire’s named Chris Cramer as its interim CEO. Cramer also serves as its chief financial officer and chief operating officer. 

The company has launched iterations to maintain its relevance for the new youth. The retailer launched a metaverse space, ShimmerVille, in Roblox in 2022 and in 2024 Claire’s launched an influencer group. The company recruited a set of “Gen Zalpha” ambassadors to participate in photoshoots and guide marketing. Claire’s also refresh its branding and piercing offerings catered to Gen Zalpha.

Indicating the importance of social commerce, more than half (55%) of Gen Z shoppers have bought items online while browsing social media in the last six months, a survey of 2,233 U.S. adults by Walmart and Morning Consult found. By contrast, only 38% of shoppers overall did the same. 

While 44% of Gen Z shoppers begin their shopping journey via online searches, roughly four in ten start their shopping browsing in stores (42%), visiting retailers’ mobile apps or websites (40%) and checking social media (38%), the survey found. About half (49%) of survey respondents said they would buy more clothes if they could access “great virtual try-on” tools, per the survey.

Walmart’s report centers around understanding the Adaptive Retail era, which it defines as a “form of retail that brings shopping to the customer in exactly the way they want and need,” per a company statement. To delve into the subject, the retailer commissioned Morning Consult to conduct its first survey on the subject and indicated it will revisit the topic annually. 

“We’re in a new era of retail defined by profoundly personal shopping experiences. Each shopper defines how, where and when they obtain goods, and context is key. The Why behind the purchase,” Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s global chief technology officer and chief development officer, said in a statement. “Retailers must predict shoppers’ needs, reduce decision-making and enable highly personal experiences. Future retail success depends on how well we anticipate and meet these evolving expectations.”

Walmart forecasts that retailers that can predict individual customer needs and deliver personalized suggestions at the correct moment will succeed. 

The big-box retailer is reaching out to meet younger consumers by experimenting with new digital shopping experiences. In May 2024, the company introduced Walmart Realm, an immersive shopping platform where shoppers can browse virtual environments and buy the items within them. The company also introduced a Walmart Discovered Roblox experience in fall 2024 that allowed players to access virtual departments across the beauty, sports and pet categories on the gaming platform. 

Walmart has also been making changes to its product assortment with millennials and Gen Z shoppers in mind. Among the new brands Walmart has debuted recently are the oral care brands Plus Ultra and Zimba, along with the personal care brand Clean Age. The retailer also revived one of its largest private labels, “No Boundaries,” aimed at Gen Z, and relaunched the label on its Walmart Discovered experience on Roblox. 

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club has seen its Gen Z and millennial customer base jump in recent years. Over the past two years, Gen Z Sam’s Club memberships spiked by 63%, and millennials rose by 14%. Hana Ben-Shabat, founder of Gen Z Planet, attributes the retailer’s growth in part to its “seamless integration between online and offline.”

This story started with a question: What happens when people get tired of pumpkin spice? Apparently, they don’t.

A 2022 study on pumpkin spice from Montclair State University found “overwhelmingly positive” sentiments about the seasonal flavor on social media, despite its ubiquity, and despite the researchers actively looking for backlash. A follow-up study in 2023 saw a continuation of the same trend, with “strong excitement” for pumpkin spice products — from lattes to candles and body oil — and “joyful conversations” on social media about the return of the fall staple.

“More bluntly put, according to our analysis of social media content, people appear to truly love pumpkin spice, and very few openly hate it,” the researchers wrote in 2022.

The same is true for retailers that rely on pumpkin spice to drive interest every fall. Bath & Body Works — which says pumpkin and “warming spices” like cinnamon, cardamom and cloves have been a key piece of its portfolio since it launched “Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin” in the early 2000s — has seen enduring interest in the scent despite how popular it’s become.

“Fall fragrances inspired by pumpkin and spices continue to be customer favorites and we don’t see that changing — it’s similar to how you think of the pine fragrance and Christmas,” Maraga Martens, a 10-year Bath & Body Works veteran and its current associate vice president of merchandising, said via email.

The retailer has evolved its offering over the years to include twists on the iconic fragrance, like Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, White Pumpkin and Pumpkin Bonfire, and customers come back “year after year” to stock up on them, according to Martens. A Future Market Insights report from 2023 predicted pumpkin spice would be a $1.1 billion market that year and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.2% over the following 10 years.

That doesn’t happen with every calendar-appropriate product release. Jin-A Choi, an assistant professor at Montclair State University who worked on the pumpkin spice studies, said a similar look into St. Patrick's Day and the Shamrock Shake revealed the timely beverage just didn’t have the same draw. Pumpkin spice, on the other hand, has stuck — and consumers aren’t letting go.

“The millennials are bringing back all the old cultures of like Y2K fashion and the baggy jeans and stuff,” Choi said. “I feel like millennials will hold onto this until the end of the earth.”

The Starbucks effect

Starbucks is widely credited with bringing pumpkin spice into the mainstream thanks to the ingenuity of its espresso beverage team, which developed and launched the Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003 after seeing success with its Peppermint Mocha the year prior. The coffee chain’s Instagram account is littered with posts about the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte and other, far less culturally significant, fall beverages (looking at you, Iced Apple Crisp Macchiato).

And while others have jumped on the bandwagon, Starbucks remains king of the pumpkin spice latte movement. The company earns more than half of all pumpkin spice latte content online, according to the Montclair researchers. That compares to just 4% for rival Dunkin’.

“If you were talking about a specific brand, you would talk about Starbucks,” Bond Benton, an associate professor at Montclair who also worked on the pumpkin spice research, said.

Ironically, Starbucks did not want to talk about pumpkin spice this year. The coffee chain denied Retail Dive’s request for an interview about its iconic beverage.

In some ways, the success of the pumpkin spice movement speaks for itself, though. In addition to the coffee-focused copycats, convenience chain 7-Eleven now has a Pumpkin Spice Slurpee, Chobani introduced a pumpkin spice yogurt drink in 2024 and Dunkin’ is offering a new spiked pumpkin spice beverage. Interest in the concept transcends the beverage aisle, with pumpkin spice dog toys, pumpkin spice lip balm and even services like pumpkin spice facials and a PSL-themed Orangetheory workout.

What Starbucks achieved with the Pumpkin Spice Latte is any product innovation team’s dream: create something that is so successful it becomes a part of the cultural conversation for years to come. But it wasn’t always like that.

“It's been 21 years, and it's getting all this attraction now in the past five to eight years,” Choi said of the drink. “I remember going to Starbucks back in the day when they were shy about, ‘Oh, here's our new experiment.’ ‘Here, try a little bit in a small cup.’ So it's been a long time coming. Like, 21 years of dedication and experiments and promotional messages.”

To Barbara Kahn, a professor of marketing at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, part of the original appeal of pumpkin spice was that it was made up.

“That makes it really pique interest. It's like a newfangled thing, ‘Now, what is this pumpkin spice?’” Kahn said. “The other thing is, it only happens at this point in time, so then you start to look forward to it.”

It’s also no longer just pumpkin spice. Starbucks sells an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai now and a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. And Bath & Body Works says it brings newness to pumpkin spice lovers with scents like Pumpkin Chai and Pumpkin S’mores. The scent is most popular in home fragrances, but the retailer also sells a fair share of pumpkin-scented lotion, soap, sanitizer and other products. 

“The experience of pumpkin could evolve based on what it’s paired with,” Martens said. “For example, we bring a smokiness to pumpkin and cloves in our Pumpkin Bonfire 3-wick candle — it offers our customers a new take on the familiar fall staple.”

It’s unclear exactly what made pumpkin spice take off — as a drink, a scent and a cultural staple. But as Kahn alluded to, some of it is timing. It was an idea to take advantage of the fall season and a way to try something new. Once it was successful, it was a given to repeat it.

“It worked, so stick with it,” Kahn said. “It's like going into Valentine's Day and saying, ‘OK, this year we're going to do hearts. Next year we're going to do flowers.’ It doesn't even make any sense — hearts works, go with it.”

Pumpkin spice falls into a convenient time period, before Thanksgiving and Christmas but after the summer holidays. Yi Luo, an associate professor at Montclair and the third member of the pumpkin spice research team, noted that the concept slots nicely into that gap between holidays and also serves as a harbinger of Halloween and fall more broadly. A pumpkin spice latte is best enjoyed when the weather starts getting cooler, which ties it very directly to the shift in seasons, the researchers said.

Indeed, in their 2022 study, they went so far as to say pumpkin spice may be attaining “similar cultural longevity” to more established rituals like eating turkey on Thanksgiving or chocolate on Valentine’s Day. 

“There's a sensory dimension to this that extends beyond the product itself,” Benton said. “And I don't have a similar association with peppermint. There is a real marked period. There's a temporal connection to this that you may not see elsewhere.”

And there’s something else pumpkin spice has that other seasonal staples just don’t: the pumpkin spice girls.

#PumpkinSpiceGirls

No, that term doesn’t refer to a fall-themed version of the iconic ’90s pop group. But the phrase has begun appearing on social media as some people begin to see pumpkin spice as a part of their identity. Montclair’s 2023 study on pumpkin spice saw a growing trend of social media users mentioning the term and identifying themselves as “pumpkin spice girls.”

“Such identity affiliation implies that pumpkin spice has evolved from a commercial product into a salient cultural symbol in American pop culture,” the study states.

Retail Dive’s search of the term on Instagram even revealed a content creator identifying as “thepumpkinspiceboo,” who has “Pumpkin Spice Latte Girl” displayed prominently on their profile. Another influencer describing themselves as “The Autumn Queen” uses “the.pumpkin.spice.girls” as a handle. Both accounts post almost exclusively fall-inspired content.

“I think especially on social media, people are looking for those distinct identifiers, in a way, to make their content, to make their channel stand out — to merge with this cultural phenomenon,” Luo said. “Pumpkin [spice] is a great way to forge that connection with their fans or followers.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Pumpkin Spice Latte Girl ???? (@thepumpkinspiceboo)

Choi notes that there is even a feeling of superiority associated with drinking Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Lattes in particular, which deepens some customers’ associations with the brand and the product. And in some areas, consuming pumpkin spice products is a way to signal to oneself that fall has officially arrived.

“You symbolically put on Uggs, you symbolically put on vests and you have to drink a pumpkin spice to almost force [fall] to come,” Choi said.

Bath & Body Works’ Martens also highlighted that fragrance itself is “a deeply sensorial experience that can often be transportive.” As a result, the retailer’s merchandising team often travels to major cities globally to find inspiration for new scents. In pursuit of 2024’s fall fragrances, for example, Bath & Body Works’ team traveled to the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York and took inspiration from experiences like apple picking and autumn wreaths.

“Pumpkin could connect you back to fond memories of fall — that could be time with family or friends during a holiday, walking through a park as the leaves change or cozying up next to a bonfire,” Martens said. “When you think fall, you think pumpkin — it truly places you in that seasonal mindset.”

Research backs that up as well, with a Johns Hopkins University study from 2021 highlighting that the scent of pumpkin spice can tap into nostalgia and remind shoppers of fond memories. And of course marketers have known about the impact of the five senses on enticing shoppers to buy for long before that.

As to why pumpkin spice itself has achieved such emotional significance, Kahn says a lot of it has to do with scarcity as well. The products are only available for a certain period of time, which makes them feel special, and retailers have latched onto the concept and continued to offer new versions of it over the years to drive further interest. And then there’s a piece of it that’s just luck.

“Why pumpkin spice and not apple spice or apple cider or something like that? I don't know. It just hit at the right time, and then it started growing. And once you get that kind of momentum, it builds on itself,” Kahn said. “I don't think there's something really special, in and of itself, about pumpkin … Why are some things memes and other things aren’t? Some of it is something intrinsic about it, and the other is, it was in the right place at the right time and it just hit.” 

The limited-time nature of pumpkin spice helps drive obsession with it during the season, the same way people can’t stop buying peppermint-flavored things in winter.

“I know a friend who buys 50 pumpkin spice bagels [and] freezes them so she'll not run out throughout the year,” Choi said.

Haters gonna hate… something else

Signs point to pumpkin spice staying with us for the long-run. But brands still deliver bold declarations every year about how they might upset the perennial favorite, like Simply Spiked’s ad for a cranberry flavor, which includes the directive to “move over pumpkin spice.” A similar push for Cracker Barrel’s apple-inspired menu claims to help customers “forget about pumpkin spice.”

And there are some detractors from the flavor. Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader in a blog post in 2024 said pumpkin spice had “jumped the shark” and become “eye-rolling,” and he suggested marketers think in terms of what’s the next pumpkin spice versus just what’s the next pumpkin spice product. Montclair’s 2023 study on pumpkin spice also identified a subset of social media users that seemed genuinely angry about pumpkin spice, but it accounted for just 5% of overall sentiment.

There’s also a gray area where sarcasm and mockery fall, because pumpkin spice does enjoy its fair share of meme culture and teasing. But have you really made it if you’re not being mercilessly mocked online?

“When you achieve the rock-star status of a flavor or an idea, you also get your detractors and that's almost a sign of how big it is,” Kahn said. “People don't make fun of things that don't get up to that status.”

When it comes to the teasing pumpkin spice receives, it’s also not usually an “authentic hatred,” according to Benton. Even the mockery of pumpkin spice brings people a feeling of joy, because it’s fun to poke fun. 

That’s not to say it’s impossible for pumpkin spice to one day fade in importance. Choi’s own students said the flavor was overplayed and overhyped, and she pointed out that interest in pumpkin spice is already limited mostly to North America. But there’s a couple of factors that make it unlikely to truly disappear.

For one thing, the same scarcity that drives interest in pumpkin spice every year also makes it harder for shoppers to get too tired of it, according to Kahn. For another, she added that there are natural cycles in retail of products falling in and out of fashion, and companies are used to reframing concepts for a new year or to attract a new generation.

Bath & Body Works’ Martens said the company is constantly testing new fragrance combinations, but the retailer considers seasonal pumpkin fragrances “in a category of their own.” Vanilla is popular at the moment as well, but interest in that scent doesn’t replace pumpkin spice.

“Creating fragrance is equal parts business savvy and creativity — it’s having the ability to see diamonds, coupled with an understanding of emerging trends and a finesse to create something new and different,” Martens said. “At the same time, it’s about building on what we know customers want season after season and meeting that demand — sometimes with a new twist.”

Montclair’s pumpkin spice researchers all find it doubtful that the pumpkin spice phenomenon is capable of being replicated, but Kahn says it’s fully possible for some new concept to reach pumpkin spice’s status. Whatever it is might crop up around a different holiday, real or made up, but it’s the nature of consumer packaged goods to always be on the lookout for the next big thing, Kahn said. It’s just a matter of time before it’s found.

When it is, it won’t replace pumpkin spice — it will join it.

“If you rethink the history of peppermint or something like that — or hearts for Valentine's Day — it's not that dissimilar,” Kahn said. “There's really no reason a heart is more important than chocolates or candy or something for Valentine's Day. There's tons of different mints that could have made a frosty feeling. But in the right place, at the right time, it gets this connection and then it grows the status. Pumpkin spice is in the pantheon of holiday things that people celebrate.”

The death of stores had already been a much-discussed idea by the time the pandemic hit, cratering foot traffic across the industry and leading many retailers to file for bankruptcy and shutter large portions of their fleet. E-commerce secured an even bigger role in customers’ lives as a result and retailers invested heavily in their online capabilities to meet new needs.

But four years later, stores are not dead. In fact, foot traffic has largely returned to 2019 levels, according to PwC’s U.S. Retail Leader Kelly Pedersen. There are also fewer vacancies than in previous years and younger generations are embracing the in-store shopping experience, even if they aren’t buying there.

“It is a different type of traffic and a different type of purpose,” Pedersen said, noting that conversion rates are down despite traffic growth. “That's just really indicative of people going to stores for different reasons than to just purchase, right? They're going into them to return. There's a solid, bigger shift toward browsing.”

The level of turnover at malls and shopping streets can also be evidence that a new generation is making its preferences known, according to Michael Brown, a partner and Americas retail leader at Kearney. He sees it as a good thing because it means new shopper needs are surfacing. It’s also, in part, a factor of younger companies like DTC brands searching out shorter leases or pop-up style agreements, Pedersen noted.

All this to say, physical retail is still healthy, even in a world with higher levels of online purchasing. In fact, an Experian report found in-store shopping for the holidays held relatively steady from 2022 to 2023, with around two-thirds of sales done in stores between October and December. Nearly half of the shoppers it surveyed planned to head to stores in 2024.

And especially at the holidays, there’s something about physical shopping that AI recommendation services and personalized websites just can’t provide.

“When it comes to the word ‘shopping,’ it really takes place in the physical world because that's where you really go, you look, you feel, you touch, you engage and you decide eventually what you're going to buy,” Brown said. “You may buy it later in the store or you may just buy it online — so I think there is really a difference between shopping and actually buying. And I think we see shopping still [has] so high levels of people going to the stores to have those experiences.”

What online changed (or didn’t)

Over the past decade, holiday shopping preferences across stores and e-commerce have effectively swapped places. The 59% of shoppers who planned to buy holiday gifts in stores in 2015 has shrunk to a projected 45% 2024, while those who expected to shop online grew from 41% in 2015 to 55% today, according to PwC. 

It’s a noticeable tilt toward e-commerce, but not nearly as high as the 61% that looked online in 2020 during the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic. And in fact, the projected percentage of in-store shoppers in PwC’s survey in 2024 increased for the first time since 2021. Black Friday, too, saw a rare spike in popularity, with a 3% increase in respondents planning to shop on the banner holiday, which tends to be an in-store event. That’s the first time that metric has grown since 2018. It still only amounts to 22% of shoppers, though, down sharply from the 59% who planned to shop on Black Friday a decade ago.

There are other factors that might lead to higher store traffic in 2024 as well. The shorter holiday season, coupled with consumer delays due to the election, will likely send shoppers into stores more as the season wears on and delivery times become less reliable. 

“There's a lot of ingredients there for a pretty robust in-store holiday shopping season this year,” Pedersen said.

Interest from shoppers spans different buying environments as well. While there is a trend toward high-street shopping during the season, Pedersen said a lot of traditional malls are seeing higher traffic again as well, courtesy of the large swaths of the country that moved out to the suburbs during COVID.

But e-commerce retailers and social media platforms are also finding innovative ways to reach customers, including through the industry’s favorite buzzword of late: AI. Etsy, for example, introduced an AI gift recommendation service in January 2024, while Amazon just recently launched AI shopping guides and a virtual holiday shop to entice customers.

Pinterest debuted a personalized gift feed on its platform in November 2024, alongside a series of gift guides curated by celebrities and publishers. And a report from Fiverr found that 14% of Gen Z in particular planned to use generative AI search to look for gifts.

Efforts like these can work, “if the algorithms are right and you can really be hit with something that you've always looked for — you want it, maybe you had a pattern of trying to find those things,” Brown said. “I think the challenge that there always is with online is the screen in front of you is only like 10 by 12, and you can only see so much. But when you go out and you look at the physical retail environment, it all opens up, right? You get peripheral view. You get long-distance view … online, it's hard to do that.”

That said, online isn’t without its benefits. It’s great for mission shopping, according to Brown, referring to when a customer already knows what they want. And there are different times during the season when e-commerce channels have more sway with shoppers. Social media, DTC and emerging marketplaces (think Temu and Shein) are more successful at the start of the season, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group, when shoppers have more time to find the perfect gift and aren’t as stressed about price and delivery times.

Retailers can make their websites more enticing as well, with festive banners or by offering the same promotions that they do in stores, like a free gift with purchase. But Pedersen admitted it’s difficult for retailers to mimic the joy of shopping in person.

“Other than us at some point having true VR headsets where we're walking through a store and experiencing that way, it's pretty hard,” Pedersen said.

And during the holidays in particular, shoppers are looking for that.

The joy of shopping

What makes the holidays different than any other time of year? At its most basic level, it comes down to gifting. Customers prowling through a shopping street or mall during those critical fall months are looking not for themselves (at least not primarily), but for others. That means discovery shopping is critical, and that’s where stores thrive.

“What's successful this season is really having unique and differentiated products and an experience where consumers think they're really winning or they're getting that special deal,” Brown said, noting that off-price players have done this particularly well. “It's a little bit of that pursuit and uniqueness and surprise of what I can find in your store. Because if I know exactly what I'm looking for, then it's easy for me to shop online.”

Customers might make a lot of purchases online, but when it comes to discovering what gifts to give, shoppers of all generations turn strongly to physical stores. In a report by PwC, every generation except for baby boomers said visiting stores in person was their top way to discover gifts. For boomers, it was second only to talking to friends and family. Both of those methods — the flesh-and-blood variety — landed significantly higher than the third all-around highest, which was online marketplaces.

“Sometimes you just see how busy the store is, and you say, ‘Well, now I’ve got to go see it,’ right? There's that crowd attraction,” Brown said. “Even as much as we'd all like to stay away from more lines at the register when you're there, that means something's going on there. And again, you can't really see that and experience that online.”

There’s a psychological reason as well: Shopping during the holidays can be a lot of fun. Winter milestones like Christmas, and the act of indulgent spending that often goes along with them, can serve as a way to cheer ourselves up during the darkest times of the year. Stores decorate their windows, blast seasonal tunes and waft pine or peppermint fragrances into the air. And much like the scents of pumpkin spice can tap into nostalgia and remind shoppers of fond memories, the right sensory stimulation can make holiday shoppers view a store more fondly.

Even spending money on others makes people happier than spending on themselves, Happiness Research Institute CEO Meik Wiking told Retail Dive in 2023.

“People just generally like to go to the stores during this time of year, it puts them in the mood. They go get some hot chocolate or something from one of the food stands. There's just something about it,” Pedersen said.

Some retailers are answering that call. Macy’s, for example, is hosting a holiday market at its Herald Square flagship, alongside its usual holiday window displays and Santaland experience. Target is offering in-person “Wonderland” events as well, with shoppable brand experiences. Others, like Anthropologie, are taking a pop-up approach to create holiday-specific shopping environments.

The opportunity to do more than just shop at the holidays — to go out to eat, for example — is key to a thriving shopping center. Outside of the usual Santa visits and sale offers, retailers could try more creative ways of bringing people in as well, like exclusive brand launches or a loyal customer night, according to Brown and Pedersen.

“These things should really be called consumer engagement centers and it needs to be a mix of consumer activities,” Brown said, much like a downtown shopping area meets many different needs. “It should be about shopping, entertainment, food, social gathering points for the community.”

Some of these trends are already happening in malls across the U.S., according to Brown. And based on the interests of younger generations, in-store shopping could continue to grow. Of all the generations PwC studied, Gen Z leaned the heaviest toward shopping in stores to discover new gifts, at 60%. They do have expectations around digital components, like self-checkout technology and brand apps, but they’re interested in going to stores. And their spending power is rising.

“Gen Zs and Gen Alphas are big in-store visitors — they go to stores a lot,” Pedersen said. “I think this trend of more in-store shopping based on those generations is going to continue for the next few years because it’s just proven that the Gen Zs and Gen Alphas like to be in store more than the millennials. So I think we see a lot more of this.”