5 key stats on how Gen Z shops on Pinterest—and what that means for retailers

Article by Arielle Feger | May 28, 2024

Gen Z is Pinterest’s largest and fastest-growing demographic, according to the platform. To cater to its younger consumers, Pinterest is focusing on inclusivity, search, and AI-powered curation.

Here are five key stats from a recent Pinterest report on Gen Z and what they mean for brands trying to reach Gen Z consumers across digital channels.

1. Pinterest’s Gen Z user base is growing

Key stat: 42% of Pinterest’s global monthly user base is Gen Z, per Pinterest’s report.

We forecast 23.5 million US Gen Z consumers will use Pinterest this year, the largest demographic on the platform after millennials (28.3 million users this year). However, the increase in Gen Z consumers (9.7% YoY) outpaces that of millennials (1.1%).
This influx of younger consumers could help the platform attract more advertisers. We forecast Pinterest’s US ad revenues will grow 17.2% to reach $2.66 billion this year.

What it means: Pinterest is connecting with Gen Z. To keep them, the platform is looking for new ways to engage with them online and off.

To appeal to Gen Z consumers seeking inclusivity, Pinterest updated its search capabilities to allow filtering by body type, skin tones, and hair types.
To promote its 2024 festival season trends report, Pinterest held an activation at Coachella, enabling visitors to create their own festival trends through beauty and styling experiences.

2. Social is the new search

Key stat: Gen Z searches on Pinterest are up 30% YoY, per the report.

Gen Z uses Pinterest as a search engine at much higher rates than other generations, according to Pinterest.
As Gen Z gets older, they’re searching more for topics relating to everyday purchases and decisions. Gen Z searches for food and drink were up 37% YoY, men’s fashion searches were up 35% YoY, and women’s fashion searches increased 30% YoY, according to the platform.

What it means: Gen Z consumers use social media much like they would Google, searching for everything from dinner party recipes to new living room furniture. WIth social media playing a bigger role in search, brands need a strong social media presence in addition to a paid search strategy.

3. Gen Z values digital curation

Key stat: Gen Z saves nearly 2.5 times more Pins and makes 66% more boards than other generations on Pinterest, per the report.

The platform’s collage functionality is also popular with Gen Z, who represent nearly 70% of collage creators, according to CEO Bill Ready during a recent earnings call.
Powered by AI and advanced computer vision technology, collages enable users to cut out images and components from a pin and piece then together to create new content.

What it means: Older generations used poster boards and cut up magazines, but Gen Z has access to a host of digital tools to help curate their style. Brands should offer opportunities for curation, making it easy for consumers to see how products can be mixed and matched together.

4. Pinterest’s AI powers personalization

Key stat: 84% of weekly Gen Z Pinterest users say they find products that fit their taste on that platform.

Pinterest has heavily invested in AI technology, enabling it to collect and analyze customer data for a more personalized, relevant experience for users.
As the technology advances, it creates a flywheel effect for Pinterest, said Ready. “As we train our models on more user signals, we're driving even further relevance in our content recommendations to further improve the user signals our AI can act upon.”

What it means: AI can help brands achieve the next level of personalization.

Product recommendations and website personalization are the top two use cases for AI that ecommerce marketers worldwide would consider for the future, according to a February 2024 survey by Klavyio and Qualtrics.
However, 40% of Gen Z consumers worldwide prefer personalization based on the interests and preferences they supply to brands, according to a February 2023 survey from Airship.
In addition to using AI, brands should give consumers ample opportunities to directly communicate their preferences.

5. The lines between social and shopping are blurring

Key stat: 63% of weekly Gen Z Pinners say they’re “always shopping,” even if they don’t have immediate plans to buy something, per the report.

The top reason Gen Z uses Pinterest is to find information about products and brands, said the platform.
Gen Zers who use Pinterest weekly are 1.3 times more likely to shop online than non-users.

What it means: Social platforms are playing a larger role in how consumers shop, especially among younger ones.

63% of US consumers ages 18 to 34 say they sometimes or often purchase an item they have discovered via social media, according to a March 2024 survey by Ipsos.
15.8% of Gen Zers say that Pinterest is their go-to social platform for shopping or product discovery, according to our July 2023 survey. This makes it the third most popular go-to social shopping platform, behind TikTok (29.1%) and Instagram (23.1%).