Memorandum
- From
- Derek Weston via Fortune | FORTUNE
- Date
- Filed
- Society·5 min to read
- Re
Gen Z Wants Screen-Free Gifts and In-Person Time This Holiday Season
ReGen Z Wants Screen-Free Gifts and In-Person Time This Holiday Season
A new PwC report finds that 78% of Gen Z consumers are interested in analog gifts like puzzles and art supplies, while 81% prioritize in-person holiday activities over digital ones.
Gen Z, the generation most associated with constant screen time, is asking for something decidedly old-school this holiday season: gifts that get them off their phones and into the physical world. According to PwC's 2026 Holiday Outlook report, nearly four in five Gen Zers — 78% — say they are interested in screen-free gifts such as puzzles, art supplies, and gift cards, compared with 64% of all consumers surveyed.
The preference for analog experiences extends well beyond what gets wrapped under the tree. More than eight in 10 Gen Z respondents, or 81%, said they are prioritizing in-person activities during the holidays, and over three in five — 63% — said a shared meal matters more to them than a present. The findings come from a survey of 1,006 participants and point to a broader shift in how younger consumers want to spend their time and money during the season.
«The more digital everyday life becomes, the more value they seem to place on things technology can't fully replicate: something tactile, personal, social, and enduring,» Ali Furman, PwC's U.S. consumer markets industry leader, said in explaining the trend.
That craving for the tangible is already showing up in how Gen Z approaches the holidays. Last year, younger shoppers revived a retro «Ralph Lauren Christmas» aesthetic, decorating with tartan plaid, velvet, candlesticks, and nutcrackers — often hunting for cheaper dupes rather than buying original items. Part of the appeal, observers say, is a yearning for the accessible economic prosperity of the 1990s, when a «good Christmas» meant gifts under the tree and long hours spent talking and playing cards with family.
«Gen Zers have a passion for traveling back in time to a world that existed before they were born,» said Mark Beal, a Rutgers professor who has written books about the generation.
The desire for a physical manifestation of the holidays also shapes how Gen Z wants to shop. Sixty-one percent said that seeing decorations and feeling a holiday atmosphere while browsing in person makes the season «feel real,» which leads them to prefer the ritual of the shopping experience over a quick online transaction.
This offline push is part of a wider pattern among younger consumers. They are already driving revivals of analog hobbies such as knitting, gardening, birding, and painting as they try to spend less time on screens and more time connecting with people and nature. They are rediscovering vinyl records, film cameras, and the stick shift — objects that can be touched and made, and that require active participation rather than passive scrolling.
«They have grown up in a world where almost everything is digital, instant, and endlessly editable,» said Arianna Lebed, creative director at advertising agency MAS. «That makes physical objects, shared meals, and in-person experiences feel more meaningful because they are finite, tactile, friction-full, and actually lived.»
Retailers are taking notice. As younger customers turn to in-person shopping, Target directed $5 billion this year toward remodeling stores and building new ones. Malls are also reviving thanks in part to Gen Z shoppers, with their value rising 13% from last year and topping other types of commercial real estate. Simon Property Group, the nation's biggest mall owner, launched an '80s and '90s-inspired marketing campaign called «Meet me @ The Mall» in 2024, running on YouTube, TikTok, and Netflix, featuring teenagers roller skating, dancing, and playing arcade games.
Yet even as their spending is projected to reach $12 trillion globally by 2030, Gen Z consumers are tightening their belts this holiday season. PwC expects Gen Z gift spending to fall 9% this year, to $533 from $586, while travel spending is projected to drop 29%. The combination of nostalgia, budget caution, and a desire for real-world connection is reshaping what the holiday season looks like for the most online generation — and for the retailers trying to reach them.
