Buy Online, Avoid People? GoDaddy Survey Uncovers New Gen Z & Millennial Shopping Habits

TEMPE, AZ / ACCESS Newswire / May 23, 2025 / GoDaddy Consumer Pulse highlights ways younger shoppers bend the rules in commerce

Originally published on GoDaddy Newsroom

A new survey by GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) found the latest quirky shopping habits Gen Z and Millennials have adopted are changing the landscape of commerce - with some possibly unintended consequences.

In the latest GoDaddy Consumer Pulse* survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers, half of Gen Z (54%) and Millennials (50%) polled in March prefer shopping methods that allow them to avoid other people, like Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store, self-checkout or online shopping, over shopping methods that let them interact with others. Fewer than 1 in 3 (29%) Gen X and Boomers feel the same way.

Younger consumers' priorities appear to starkly contrast with older generations. The new data shows night-and-day differences in the ways these younger generations shop.

• Bots over humans: 15% of Gen Z and 10% of Millennials prefer talking to a chatbot over a human customer service representative, compared to 3% of Gen X and Boomers.

• Curbside pickup or bust: The majority of Gen Z (86%) and Millennials (76%) purchase items online for in-store or curbside pickup at least once per month, with 1 in 4 Gen Z (23%) and Millennials (27%) doing so weekly. This is in contrast to half of Gen X and Boomers (51%) who never purchase items online to pick up at or in the store.

• Budgetless shopping: About 4 in 10 Gen Z (39%) and Millennials (43%) have used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) to purchase items they couldn't afford, compared to 22% of Gen X and Boomers. Only 16% of consumers have never used BNPL.

• Working hard or hardly working? Gen Z and Millennials shopping habits know no time bounds, particularly during the workday. Half of Gen Z (54%) and Millennials (50%) report they shop online while at work, compared to only 18% of Gen X and Boomers.

• Digital wallets > credit cards: 54% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials have skipped completing a purchase due to a business not accepting digital wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, compared to Gen X or Boomers (17%). 1 in 10 (10%) Gen Z only use their phone to pay for items when shopping in-person, with 5% of Gen Z reporting they don't even carry a physical wallet anymore. In contrast, more than 1 in 4 (27%) Gen X and Boomers have never used digital wallets.