How do Gen Z and millennials discover new stores and brands? By just walking around, it turns out

Businesses spend billions of dollars trying to get the attention of younger consumers, namely members of the Gen Z and millennial cohorts. But a surprising new study finds that a majority of those consumers are learning about new businesses and brands the old-fashioned way: They’re just walking around their communities.

That’s one of the takeaways from the 2024 American Express Shop Small Impact Study, released on Tuesday. Specifically, the study finds that 90% of Gen Z and millennials have found new businesses while hoofing it—which is more than the 80% who said they’ve discovered new small, independent businesses through social media.

It begs the question: Have younger consumers short-circuited entire marketing departments with their low-tech sauntering?

Sort of, says Elizabeth Rutledge, chief marketing officer at American Express. “While technology and discovering businesses online will continue to be crucial, after COVID we have in fact seen a shift in younger consumers’ behaviors as they desire more IRL, human connections,” she says.

The trend has translated into more people wanting to support small, local businesses—or at least saying they want to—this holiday season. Amex’s study finds that 85% of consumers overall say they’re “likely” to “shop small” this year, which is an increase of 11 points over the past decade.

Furthermore, 55% say they plan to make shopping small “a priority.” That’s cascaded into optimism for business owners, too—95% of which have a positive outlook for their holiday sales this year, which is up 12 points over last year.

“From a global pandemic to an ever-evolving macroeconomic environment, the past few years have tested small businesses,” says Rutledge. “They’ve had to be scrappy, savvy, and flexible, and we expect this sentiment to continue based on our conversations with business owners. . . . They’ve told us that taking on new challenges every year makes them feel even more confident in their skills as business owners and in their ability to grow their businesses for the future.”

Banking on ‘Small Business Saturday’

Those business owners may be banking on a big holiday. According to the data, the average small business owner expects that roughly a quarter of their annual revenue will be due to sales on Small Business Saturday, which is the day after Black Friday, or November 30 this year. Such sales can make a big difference since shopping at local businesses tends to keep money in local economies.

“Our previous studies have shown that for every dollar spent with a local business, 68 cents stays in the local community,” says Rutledge. “That’s why we’re focused on building excitement and engagement around Small Business Saturday: reminding consumers of the real impact their dollars make in local communities.”