Gen Z Shoppers Aren’t Spending Like Retailers Need Them To
美国Z世代消费降级，零售商假日季面临挑战
More than other generations, 20-somethings are tightening their holiday-season budgets because of economic pressures
受经济压力影响，美国20几岁的年轻人正不得不勒紧裤腰，在传统假日旺季大幅缩减开支。
Jennifer Williams
珍妮弗·威廉姆斯
Economic worries aren’t putting much of a dent in consumers’ holiday shopping plans, with one glaring exception: Gen Z shoppers.
对经济的担忧并没有怎么影响消费者的假日购物计划，但有一个群体明显例外：Z世代购物者。
More than any other generation, young adults are tightening their year-end spending budgets and shelling out less for gifts, survey data shows. That is a problem for retailers and brands that look to Generation Z – a group that runs from teens to late-20-somethings – to drive shopping trends and boost spending steadily as they earn bigger paychecks.
调查数据显示，年轻人正在收紧年终支出并减少礼物开销，精打细算超过其他任何一代人。对于指望Z世代引领购物潮流、并随着他们收入的增加而稳步提高消费水平的零售商和品牌来说，这是一件麻烦事。Z世代是指十几岁到20多岁的年轻人群体。
This year, more are taking the tack of 25-year-old Sonia Iacoboni, who has already warned loved ones that she is spending less this season. The sales-account executive is paying rent for the first time and student loans, which together eat up $2,400 each month. Those extra costs come on top of higher price tags for groceries and other essentials.
今年有更多人像25岁的索尼娅·雅各布尼（Sonia Iacoboni）一样，她事先提醒亲友，这个购物季她会减少开支。这位销售客户主管正面临第一次支付房租和偿还学生贷款，这两项支出每月共计2,400美元。除了这些额外的开销，食品日用品和其他必需品的价格也更高了。
“My bank account is certainly not where it once was,” the Long Islander said she told family members in October. “So it will be, you know, a lighter Christmas for me.”
“我的银行账户肯定不如从前了，”居住在长岛的雅各布尼说，她在10月份就把这话告诉了家人。“所以，你知道，这个圣诞节我得省着过了。”
Iacoboni is fairly crafty, she said, so handmade ornaments are an option if there is time. Her younger sister might be a candidate for a dupe version of a high-end coat, handbag or pair of sunglasses. And Iacoboni is hunting for deals to keep her budget in check. “I just know I want it to not be a lot,” she said of her spending.
雅各布尼说，她手很巧，如果有时间的话，可以自己做一些装饰品，当礼物送出去。她的妹妹可能会买仿制版的高档外套、手袋或太阳镜。雅各布尼则到处找打折商品，尽量控制预算。当谈到自己的开销时，她说：“我只知道，我不想花太多钱。”
Gen Z shoppers recently said they expected to cut holiday spending by an average of 34%, sharply more than other age groups, according to a Deloitte survey of over 4,200 U.S. adults. (Gen X consumers, those between 45 and 60 and in their peak earning years, were the only cohort to say they planned to spend more.) A separate, PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found that in addition to spending less on gifts, Gen Zers are pulling back on travel, dining out and clothes shopping.
德勤（Deloitte）对4,200多名美国成年人进行的一项调查显示，Z世代购物者最近表示，他们预计将平均减少34%的假日支出，降幅远超其他年龄段。（年龄在45岁至60岁之间的X世代消费者正处于收入高峰期，他们是唯一表示计划增加支出的群体。）普华永道（PricewaterhouseCoopers）的另一项调查则发现，除减少礼物开支外，Z世代还在缩减旅行、外出就餐和服装方面的支出。
Overall, American consumers turned out for the informal start of the holiday shopping season. U.S. sales on Black Friday hit $18 billion, up 3% compared with a year earlier, Salesforce data show. But U.S. shoppers purchased 2% fewer items at checkout, and with average prices up 7%, shoppers made 1% fewer online orders. (On Saturday, online U.S. sales in terms of dollars spent rose 5% from the same shopping day last year, according to Salesforce.)
整体来看，美国消费者并未缺席假日购物季的非正式开场。Salesforce数据显示，美国“黑色星期五”销售额达到180亿美元，同比增长3%。但美国购物者在结账时购买的商品数量减少了2%，在平均价格上涨7%的情况下，在线订单量减少了1%。（据Salesforce称，上周六美国在线销售额按美元计算同比增长5%。）
College-educated 20-somethings – the kind of young consumers that typically have the most spending power – are taking a particular hit. Housing and student-loan costs are rising, as are those of restaurant meals and groceries. Meanwhile, the higher unemployment that recent college graduates face compared with older workers is growing as entry-level hiring slows. It rose to an average of 6.8% for the 12 months ended in September – the highest level in a decade outside the pandemic unemployment spike.
受过大学教育的20多岁的年轻人正受到尤其严重的冲击，而他们通常被视为购买力最强的年轻消费群体。住房和助学贷款成本正在上升，外出用餐和食品日用品开销也在增加。与此同时，随着入门级岗位招聘放缓，应届大学毕业生相对于年长员工面临更高的失业率，而且差距正在扩大。在截至9月的12个月里，应届大学毕业生的平均失业率升至6.8%，是十年来除新冠疫情时期以外的最高水平。
For retailers, this generation is in sharp focus. Though it makes up about 8% of U.S. retail spending today, that is expected to grow to about 20% within five years, or roughly $2 trillion annually, said Ali Furman, PwC’s head of U.S. consumer markets. These younger consumers outperform in their social-media influence and tend to explore a wider range of brands.
对零售商来说，Z世代人群特别值得关注。普华永道的美国消费市场主管阿里·弗曼（Ali Furman）表示，尽管Z世代目前约占美国零售支出的8%，但预计五年内将增至约20%，即每年约2万亿美元。这些年轻消费者在社交媒体上的影响力更胜一筹，并且倾向于尝试更广泛的品牌。
“Even if it’s not your stated demographic or your desired demographic, you still have to pay attention to this generation because of the influence that they’re having,” she said.
她说：“Z世代的影响力让你不能忽视这个群体，即便他们不是你的明确目标或期望吸引的一代人。”
Overall, shoppers are fairly resilient right now, even if they are looking for what they perceive as great value, but low-income and young shoppers are more strained, some retail executives said.
一些零售业高管表示，虽然精打细算，但购物者的整体表现仍相当稳健，不过低收入和年轻购物者变得更加拮据。
The electronics retailer Best Buy has stocked a broader range of products at lower prices, which helped drive stronger sales among those groups of shoppers in the most recent quarter, Chief Executive Corie Barry said last week. “We’re actually indexing more into lower-income and younger, so to me that reflects the fact that the strategy for us is really positioning us well,” she said.
电子产品零售商百思买（Best Buy）的首席执行官科里·巴里（Corie Barry）上周表示，该公司扩大了低价产品的库存种类，结果是最近一个财季的销售额在Z世代购物人群推动下走强。她说：“我们现在更注重低收入和年轻群体，在我看来，这个策略让我们处于有利位置。”
“They don’t have to go out and spend $30 on a lipstick,” Fields said. “That is one thing I think Gen Z loves.”
“他们不必花30美元去买一支口红。”菲尔兹说，“我认为Z世代喜欢这一点。”
Britton Rae Copeland, 26, is noticing a reluctance among friends to go big on gifts, and she is right there with them. This year she switched from a 9-to-5 job as a personal assistant to creating social-media content and writing a book, both of which are less financially predictable.
26岁的布里顿·雷·科普兰（Britton Rae Copeland）发现朋友们都不愿意花大价钱买礼物，她自己也一样。今年，她辞去了朝九晚五的私人助理工作，转而从事社交媒体内容创作和写书，这两项工作的收入都不那么稳定。
In other years, she and her friends might have exchanged earrings or other trinkets. This season, they are discussing a low-cost activity such as buying inexpensive templates of Christmas paper houses and making a craft day of it.
往年，她和朋友们可能会互赠耳环或其他小饰品。而这个购物季，他们正在讨论一项低成本的活动，比如购买便宜的圣诞纸房子模板，然后一起动手制作。
Copeland said her mother might get a homemade card, and she added that she is browsing secondhand shops and websites in search of other budget gifts.
科普兰说，她妈妈可能会收到一张她自制的贺卡，她还说，自己正在逛二手商店和网站，寻找其他经济实惠的礼物。
She isn’t alone in considering preused presents.
考虑二手礼物的并非只有她一人。
“A few years ago, the idea would have been unthinkable,” said Ajay Gopal, chief financial officer at The RealReal, where Gen Z and millennials account for over half of shoppers.
The RealReal的首席财务官阿贾伊·戈帕尔（Ajay Gopal）说：“几年前，这个想法是不可想象的。”在The RealReal平台上，Z世代和千禧一代占了购物者的一半以上。
“It was, ‘Oh, my God, you’re going to give me something that somebody’s worn before?’ ” Gopal said. Now, he added, more shoppers are turning to the secondhand market not just to buy luxury names at a discount for themselves but as presents.
“以前人们会想，‘天哪，你要送我别人穿过的东西？’”戈帕尔说，现在，更多购物者转向二手市场，不仅为自己挑选打折的奢侈品牌，也为别人选购礼物。
Mia Chai, newly living in New York City and working in financial communications, will turn to her oven. The 23-year-old and two friends convened for a routine video call in November and agreed to make gifts for one another to keep a lid on spending.
米娅·柴（Mia Chai）刚搬到纽约市，从事金融传播工作，她的想法是用烤箱制作甜品当做礼物。23岁的她和两个朋友在11月份的一次例行视频通话中商定，为了控制开支，她们会亲手制作礼物送给彼此。
Chai, an avid baker, will likely make chocolate-chip and snickerdoodle cookies because she already has many of the needed ingredients on hand.
作为一名烘焙爱好者，她可能会制作巧克力曲奇和肉桂砂糖曲奇，因为她手头正好有很多食材。
“We all graduated college in May,” she said. “Us saying ‘handmade’ is managing expectations.”
“我们都是5月份刚从大学毕业的，”她说。“我们觉得‘手工制作’就是在管理彼此的期望。”
