Gen Z Is Pushing Gen X To Embrace Sustainability

Gen Z consumers may be at the forefront of embracing sustainable shopping practices such as reselling and renting products; new research shows that consumers from other demographic groups are not far behind.

In just the last two years, the preference for shopping on secondary markets such as ThredUp, The RealReal, and Poshmark has surged across all generations in a matter of two years, with Baby Boomers increasing their utilization by 56%, Generation X by 35% and Millennials by 33%. Gen Z consumers lead all other groups at 44%.

These insights were revealed in a survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents conducted by First Insight and the Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The survey found that Gen Z consumers’ interest in sustainable shopping is trickling down to their Generation X parents — an insight that solidifies the notion that all retailers and brands should support recommerce.

“Resale and recommerce continue to gain importance with consumers,” said Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight.

“When we fielded our first sustainability report in 2019, resale and recommerce were used by more than half of our respondents regardless of generation. Today, just two years later, as the trend of sustainability continues to gain traction, we’ve seen an enormous increase in the adoption of resale across all generations — even Boomers.”

The study also found that Generation X (47%) and Millennials (52%) prefer to sell items on secondhand platforms such as ThredUp and Poshmark.

Additionally, more than half of all respondents (55%) who sell items through recommerce channels prefer compensation in the form of cash rather than rewards, loyalty points, or discounts on future purchases.

“It is clear that both the retail landscape and the consumer are becoming more complicated than ever before, and the need to continue to understand their constantly evolving demands is critically important to a consumer brand’s success,” said Petro.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on December 10, 2021.