Gen Z has quietly reinvented the entire concept of “going to the shops”. And given it a name your algorithm has probably already served you: mallmaxxing.
New research from Snapchat, surveying more than 2,000 Australians, finds that nearly half of Gen Z, 44%, are visiting physical stores more often than they were a year ago, more than four times the rate of Baby Boomers, and the same share say they’re spending more in-store too. For a generation raised on same-day delivery and endless scroll, it’s a full blown revival. And it comes with its own rituals, distinct enough that marketers and retailers are now scrambling to understand exactly what’s driving it.
The mall, it turns out, was never really about deciding between Coles v Woollies. Or, spending way more than you need to at Sheike. It’s the food court catch-up, the group trip that turns into lunch, the fitting room selfie someone sends to five different group chats before anyone buys a thing.
76% of Gen Z say physical retail creates memories online shopping simply can’t replicate, and 39% say they visit shopping centres primarily to hang out with friends, the purchase almost secondary to the outing itself. 46% say the in-store experience is as important as the product itself, and one in three (33%) say their most meaningful purchases represent something about who they are or want to be. It’s a meaningful shift in how a generation defines “going shopping” at all, less a transaction than a scheduled block of social time that happens to end with a bag or two.
What actually decides what people buy, though, is what Snapchat calls “Friendfluence.”
77% of Gen Z discover something online, then head in-store to buy it, but 77% also send photos or videos from the fitting room before committing, turning every purchase into a live group consultation. 64% say a positive reaction in the group chat was the final nudge that got them to buy, while 31% say a private group chat is the first place they share an exciting new purchase, compared with just 6% who post it publicly afterwards, the real celebration happens in private, among friends who were part of the decision. It’s clothing (34%), skincare and haircare (29%), accessories (28%) and gaming (27%) where Gen Z most commonly seek this kind of peer input before buying, the categories most tied to how they look and how they spend time with friends.
It’s a dynamic that effectively puts a small, trusted focus group between every product and every purchase, one retailers are only just starting to design around.
According to Tessa, a 22-year-old from Sydney, the entire ritual can be summed up simply: “Shopping is not just about buying stuff. It is a good excuse to hang out with friends, grab lunch and try on things you have been eyeing online. I always send pics to the group chat when I’m in the fitting room because my friends tell me if it’s a yes or a hard no. Seeing something online sparks my interest, but trying it on in person tells me whether I actually want it.”
For a generation that spent its most formative years locked out of exactly this kind of casual, spontaneous hangout, the timing tracks. As Snap Inc ANZ Managing Director Ryan Ferguson puts it, “Gen Z’s hunger for connection is powering a physical retail revival that nobody predicted… For this generation, shopping is not a transaction. It is a social act, a memory in the making, and a reason to leave the house.” Professor Gary Mortimer, Consumer Behaviour and Retail Expert at QUT, agrees the shift makes sense given who’s driving it. “Gen Z are different: they may first hear about a product online, but stores give them the chance to touch, try and experience it for themselves, and to make an occasion of it with friends.”
Somewhere, a mall food court is quietly having its best year since 2011, and it has absolutely nothing to do with nostalgia marketing and everything to do with Gen Z simply wanting somewhere to be, together, phones out, group chat live.
