The news: US shopper interest in generative AI (genAI) assistants has spiked 223% between 2023 and 2025, per Chain Store Age. 69% of US consumers surveyed by CouponFollow have used AI assistants for shopping. Our take: Retail AI strategies must match their audiences. Those geared toward younger consumers should highlight AI use and innovation and even let AI guide purchases. For older consumers, focus on AI to inform, not take control.

With bigger-than-average incomes and households, Gen Xers do bigger-than-average buying. But often on the lookout for deals, they are not spending heedlessly. Digital plays an important role in their shopping, especially during the pandemic.

While all generations have taken a financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, boomers are better positioned than younger cohorts to keep spending amid the recession. Marketers must make the most of boomers, which necessitates being up to date on their digital and consumer behavior.

At a life stage that entails lots of buying, millennials are combining digital and in-store shopping in ways that work best for them.

Marketers must look past some familiar stereotypes of millennial life—about their digital usage, shopping behavior, finances and attitudes toward homeownership—to grasp the realities of how this cohort has evolved.

Millennials have long been omnichannel shoppers, but their preference for digital channels is growing alongside the rise of D2C brands and mcommerce.