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The 4 Cs of Gen Z Commerce

The 4 Cs of Gen Z Commerce

Matt Kritzer
July 07, 2025

“Gen Z is ruining EVERYTHING.”

- Andy Jassy to Jeff Bezos (circa 2027)

Maybe you’re too caught up to notice—and who could blame you? There’s a general sense of unease out there, a feeling that things are broken. We don’t know exactly what is broken and to what degree, but many things don’t seem to really add up like they used to.

So we tend to stay in our bubble, to hold onto what’s familiar. Because we’ve had it pretty good. The job, the house. We are WITH.

Change? That’s not my generation’s fight.

But Gen Z? They’re different. They’re WITHOUT. Born in the shadow of the Great Recession, shaped by the chaos of COVID, they’ve grown up skeptical, hardened by a system they believe has failed them too often. They don’t buy the promises of corporations or governments. This distrust runs deep, breeding a transactional edge—a gut instinct to ask, What’s in it for me?

This mindset, fused with the relentless march of tech, is set to rip up the rulebook on shopping. To how we discover, evaluate, shop and pay for products, Gen Z is forging a new path for ALL of us. The initial seeds are being sown and the impacts will be felt by even the titans among us.

Discovery: Social’s Getting Transactional

Gen Z doesn’t fall for slick ads or corporate spin. Instead, they lean on their peers—creators who cut through the digital noise with raw, unfiltered honesty. These voices aren’t just influencers; they’re trusted guides in a chaotic world. Social media isn’t just a feed for them—it’s a marketplace of discovery where authenticity reigns supreme.

But don’t mistake them for passive scrollers. They’re not just consuming—they’re creating. Data shows 28% of Gen Z is already part of the creator economy and 57% dream of joining them. They’re not here to be fed content; they’re here to make it, to be the signal in the noise.

The old world of content creation—expensive, gated, and slow—is crumbling. Generative AI is handing Gen Z the keys, letting them churn out videos, posts, and designs with a speed and ease where everyone can be a creator. But there’s also a catch coming. More creators will mean less potential reach for each, which means less brand dollars for the average creator. And Gen Z isn’t going to put the work in for free. They know their content fuels the machine, and they won’t sit by idly as platforms pocket the profits.

Let’s talk about those profits. Social networks are projected to rake in $355.50 per user in 2025 (a total of $75 billion in the U.S. alone!). That’s BILLIONS built on the backs of creators and users, with platforms like Instagram and TikTok keeping nearly every cent. But the younger generations are getting wise. They know their attention, their data, their creativity is the product—and they’re ready to demand a cut.

The tipping point is coming. Tomorrow’s creators won’t just negotiate with brands; they’ll hold platforms accountable, demanding fair compensation for the value they bring. The vision? A world where product discovery isn’t dictated by algorithms or ad dollars, but by real voices, real connections, and real rewards.

Gen Z can see right through the gamification going on in ecommerce. They’ve been bombarded with marketing fluff since they were in diapers, and their radar for nonsense is highly attuned—especially when it comes to Amazon, the epicenter of fake reviews. In 2024, Amazon admitted to blocking 275 million fake reviews globally—almost one fake review for every product in its 350 million-strong catalog. That just screams of a broken compact between merchant and customer.

Gen Z’s is circumventing the noise all together by leveraging ChatGPT. A 2024 study—already a year old—found 77% of Gen Z uses ChatGPT to scope out deals, compare specs, or get recommendations. AI’s their secret power. Want to know if those product reviews look fishy? Just prompt AI and it’ll apply truth serum to any product listing.

For high consideration purchases, AI is collapsing the funnel all together, combining discovery and evaluation into a single motion. With it, users are able to cut through Amazon’s morass of sponsored listings and dubious product rankings with surgical precision.

The impact of AI filtering out the fake noise and compressing the purchase funnel cannot be understated. But imagine what happens when AI has access to a treasure trove of honest, finely attributed product reviews.

With 88% of Gen Z ready to trade their data for compensation, there’s a massive supply of product feedback just waiting to be unlocked. Picture AI tapping into the social graph—purchases, reviews, preferences. Totally anonymized but curated and matched through an AI lens that knows all about you. Your physical traits, your experience levels, your entire persona. AI will recommend the perfect product for you and you won’t even need to lift a finger.

So envision a world where you can actually trust star ratings, where reviews aren’t a rigged game but a clear signal. Ecommerce is about to feel honest, fluid, real. Gen Z will drive this shift, and it’s not a distant dream—it’s just a matter of aligning incentives between brands and consumers.

How They Pay: Redefining Money Itself

Gen Z’s distrust extends to financial institutions, too. Only 32% of 16–24-year-olds trust banks, compared to 51% of those over 55. This skepticism shapes how they pay—and it’s not with blind faith in traditional finance. They’re not racking up credit card debt like past generations; 52–69% prefer debit cards over credit, wary of owing more to institutions they already resent. Student debt looms large, and they’re not eager to deepen their ties to banks.

This generation is also rewriting the rules of wealth. Nearly a third of Gen Z starts investing by early adulthood—more than any prior generation at that age. A 2024 survey showed 51% of Gen Z adults own or have owned crypto, outpacing Millennials (49%) and Gen X (29%). They see investing as both entertainment and a faster shot at financial freedom, not a slow-and-steady build to retirement age. This risk-tolerant, independent streak opens the door to new payment methods—think crypto and digital wallets.

Gen Z’s shift away from banks and credit cards signals a broader trend: they’re embracing alternative forms of money that align with their need for control and flexibility. But crypto won’t be just the way to fund shopping going forward. It'll also be the vehicle through which creators are paid for the value they create.

We’re on the verge of frictionless payment system, one where funds will flow between consumers, platforms and brands in all directions.