Walmart is attracting younger shoppers while older customers are changing how—and where—they spend, creating a surprisingly messy retail battle.
1. Walmart Still Owns the Boomer Shopper
Boomers remain Walmart’s biggest generational stronghold: the retailer captures 17% of their spending across consumer goods, general merchandise and quick-service restaurants. Amazon follows at 9%, with Costco at 5%.
2. But Gen Z Is Moving In
Gen Z now gives Walmart 16% of its retail spending in those same categories, making it their No. 1 retailer too. Over the past year, Gen Z shoppers added 77 million Walmart trips worth about $3.4 billion.
3. Target Is the Gen Z Wild Card
Target doesn’t even crack the top 10 retailers for Boomers, yet it captures 6% of Gen Z spending—twice its 3% share across the overall U.S. population. That’s a huge generational split for one of America’s biggest retailers.
4. Amazon Is Where Boomers Go Online
Amazon is No. 2 among Boomer spending and has become an increasingly important alternative to physical stores. Recent sales-event data also showed Boomers and seniors sharply increasing their participation at Amazon, suggesting older shoppers are hardly ignoring e-commerce.
5. Costco Has the Cross-Generational Advantage
Costco sits in the top three retailers for Boomers, Gen X and Millennials. Gen Z is also moving toward warehouse clubs, with club channels recording the strongest share growth among Gen Z in Numerator’s latest generational data.
6. Walmart May Have the Biggest Problem
Here’s the twist: Walmart is gaining Gen Z while losing some older in-store traffic. Boomers made 160 million fewer CPG trips to Walmart stores, contributing to a $6.2 billion decline—but Walmart’s online business is helping recapture some of that spending.
