The news: Omnichannel strategies are crucial to capture multigenerational shoppers in their product discovery and research journeys.

• For younger consumers, the path to discovery usually starts on social platforms. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of US Gen Zers and 67% of millennials say social media is their main source for learning about new products, per Salsify.
• Older shoppers take a different route, with about two-thirds (61%) of Gen Xers discovering products while browsing in physical retail stores, and 60% of baby boomers relying on online marketplaces to find something new.

Gen Zers (63%) and millennials (55%) remain reliant on social media to research products and get deeper information. Over half of Gen Xers (55%) and baby boomers (58%) turn to online marketplaces as their go-to source for that task.

This divide illustrates how discovery and research behaviors splinter sharply by age, requiring brands to tailor outreach rather than rely on a single, dominant channel.

The bigger picture: Beyond age-based research behavior, the type and price of a product also play a role. This deepens the need for tightly coordinated content and presence across all platforms to guide shoppers confidently toward checkout.

• For mid-tier categories—including apparel, beauty, and sporting goods—more than half of shoppers consult two to three different channels, and over 20% check four to six.
• When it comes to big-ticket items, like furniture or electronics, over half check four or more channels before purchase.

What this means for marketers: The fragmentation of purchase journeys across ages means brands that prioritize a consistent persona across platforms—and availability of reviews and clear product specs across every touchpoint—are more likely to attract a broad swath of shoppers.

To earn the attention and trust of multigenerational shoppers, build channel-specific messaging and invest in measurement tools that track cross-channel behavior to see how different audiences are finding, researching, and buying products across platforms.

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