Published: August 24, 2025 | Last updated: August 24, 2025
Gen Z is increasingly influencing the direction of e-commerce development, dictating new standards for aesthetics, functionality, and a sustainable approach to online shopping.
From the preppy fashion revival to thrift shops and patchwork outfits, the lifestyle trends of younger consumers are becoming a key driver for transforming business models and implementing digital innovations.
In this article, we'll analyze how e-retailers can leverage current trends, data, and technologies to adapt their online stores to the expectations of the new generation of customers. If you run an online business and want to increase your competitiveness, build Gen Z loyalty, and scale your company with proven solutions, you're in the right place.
You'll learn, among other things, how to:
- interpret the main Gen Z trends observed on platforms like Pinterest and TikTok,
- implement personalization in e-commerce by using data and AI,
- design a future-proof e-shop that's friendly to the idea of sustainable development,
- create engaging content and visual campaigns that resonate with the lifestyle of younger consumers,
- choose payment technologies that support UX and purchasing conversion.
Table of Contents
- Who is Gen Z and why do they matter?
- Pinterest and TikTok as predictors of 2025 trends
- How to prepare your e-shop for the needs of Gen Z?
- Modern technology and digital services in e-commerce
- Personalization, sustainable development, and eco-friendly fashion
- Convenient payment processing? Check out the payment solutions from Przelewy24
- Trends and e-commerce - frequently asked questions (FAQ)
- E-commerce Trends 2025: a summary in a nutshell
- Gen Z sets new shopping standards – style, values, and customer experience are what matter.
- Technology and digital services – personalization, AI, mobility, and automation are the foundations of the e-commerce of the future.
- Sustainable development and conscious shopping are becoming a competitive advantage, not an option.
- E-shop business models must support shopping efficiency through modern payment systems and a UX adapted for mobile devices.
Who is Gen Z and why do they matter?
Gen Z are people born roughly between 1997 and 2012. They are digital natives – they grew up with a smartphone in hand, and buying online is as natural to them as breathing. However, their consumer decisions are radically different from previous generations.
Characteristic features of Gen Z:
- Authenticity > perfection – Gen Z seeks out authentic, transparent, and socially responsible brands.
- Visual content consumption – content should be short, visually appealing, and available primarily on mobile devices.
- Environmental sensitivity – purchasing choices are dictated by values, sustainable development, and a brand's environmental footprint.
- High UX/UI demands – an online store must be fast, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing.
Why e-commerce must understand them?
According to data from the Pinterest Autumn 2025 Trend Report, it's Gen Z that sets the pace of change in the fashion, beauty, and home decor industries. E-retailers who don't enter their world risk losing future customers, loyalty, and competitiveness.
Pinterest and TikTok as predictors of 2025 trends
Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram now function as micro-cultural hubs that instantly generate and popularize lifestyles, fashion, and values. Trends are now filtered through authenticity, nostalgia for the future, and the idea of recycling.
The most important lifestyle trends of Gen Z (Fall 2025):
- Vintage Prep – preppy style with interpretations from the 2000s. Search increase of +47,000% (Pinterest).
- Babydoll Glamour – babydoll dresses, 60s, a breath of classic style in contrast to fast fashion.
- Thrift Shop – the growing popularity of second-hand as a stylish and eco-friendly choice.
- Art Deco Interiors – decorative and personal interior arrangements, DIY, mixing styles.
- Pixie Cuts and Smudged Eyelines – naturalness and nonchalance in beauty care.
How to prepare your e-shop for the needs of Gen Z?
E-commerce 2025 is based on speed, mobile accessibility, personalization, and values. The best e-shops today are not only "sellers" but also trend curators and lifestyle partners.
Essential elements:
- Mobile-first interface – 90% of Gen Z shoppers make purchases on their phones.
- Integration of inspiration with the shopping system – e.g., Shop with Pinterest function, live shopping from TikTok.
- Community-based business models – ambassador programs, customer reviews, valuable video reviews.
- Dynamic product presentation – e.g., rotating collections, AR tools for trying on clothes/visualizing furniture.
Modern technology and digital services in e-commerce
Technology is the backbone of the e-commerce of the future. Regardless of the platform (WooCommerce, Shopify, Shopware), store owners must use solutions that streamline shopping – from chatbots to product recommendations based on data algorithms.
Examples:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) – product recommendations, analysis of shopping behavior, predicting abandoned carts.
- Voice Commerce – voice shopping will gain popularity (especially in the beauty and home segments).
- AR/VR – AR dressing room tools, 3D product visualizations.
- Integrated payment systems – fast, secure, mobile.
Convenient payment processing? Check out the payment solutions from Przelewy24 that will help you increase conversion, minimize abandoned carts, and improve the customer experience.
Personalization, sustainable development, and eco-friendly fashion
Gen Z no longer buys just products – they buy ideas, identity, and a sense of purpose.
How to introduce sustainable development in e-commerce?
- Transparency – communicate product origin, materials, and production conditions.
- Eco-filter option – allow customers to sort products with certifications.
- Second-life programs – enable customers to sell/exchange clothes in your store.
- Plastic-free packaging – it's worth noting this on the product page (UX!).
Case: Pinterest Thrift Shop
A new feature launched by Pinterest is a kind of marketplace for second-hand and vintage clothing. This shows how technology can support responsible consumption. It's a model worth considering for local e-retailers — it can be integrated into your own business model, for example, through a separate "Trade / Resell" section in the store.
Trends and e-commerce - frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. Why is Gen Z so important for e-retailers?
This is a group of customers who, in a few years, will constitute the majority of purchasing power. Their loyalty and recommendations can determine the growth of any e-business.
2. Do I need a mobile store?
Yes. The lack of a mobile version today means elimination from the market – Gen Z uses mobile devices almost exclusively.
3. Where can I get data on trends?
Analyze reports from Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, and use tools like Google Trends, SEMrush, or platforms like TrendWatching.
4. What e-commerce tools are recommended?
For SMEs: Shoplo, Shoper, Shopify, WooCommerce. It's worth enriching them with integrations with Przelewy24 payments, AI recommendation systems (e.g., QuarticOn), and chats like ChatGPT/Livechat.
E-commerce Trends 2025: a summary in a nutshell
In 2025, you don't shape the trends – your customer does, especially if they belong to Gen Z. They want brands with values, convenient shopping, personalization, and environmental action. Today, technology and digital services are not just tools but also a language for communicating with new generations of consumers.
It's not enough to have an e-shop – you have to be a brand that new consumers want to trust.
Convenient payment methods for your customers are an opportunity for your business to grow.
