# 398. What Gen Z wants: insights shaping the future of retail Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/retail-gets-real-405002/398-what-gen-z-wants-insights-shaping-the-future-of-retail Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/retail-gets-real-405002/398-what-gen-z-wants-insights-shaping-the-future-of-retail.md Podcast: [Retail Gets Real](https://stenobird.com/podcast/retail-gets-real-405002) Published: 2025-12-10T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://retailgetsreal.com Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/783214eb-925d-473b-b37e-dd4b1615c501.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/retail-gets-real-405002/episodes/398-what-gen-z-wants-insights-shaping-the-future-of-retail Duration seconds: 1181 ## Resource Gen Z is rapidly becoming one of the most influential consumer groups in the marketplace. In this episode of Retail Gets Real, we hear from two guests who sit at the heart of this evolving landscape: Carly Berns, assistant vice president at Berns Communications Group and co-founder of The Z Suite, and Olivia Meyer, a Gen Z retail strategist and Z Suite member. Together, they explore what defines today’s youngest adult shoppers, how they influence retail trends and what retailers must do to stay relevant in a world where discovery, personalization and transparency reign supreme. (00:00:00) Introducing Gen Z’s growing influence on retail (00:04:00) How The Z Suite connects retailers with Gen Z (00:06:52) How Gen Z uses AI in the shopping journey (00:11:46) Why modern leaders can’t ignore social media (00:14:54) The future of retail: a 5–10 year outlook The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association. Every day, we passionately stand up for the people, policies and ideas that help retail succeed. Resources: • Website:  bernscommunications.com • Website:  thez-suite.com • LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/carly-berns-057b89bb • LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/oliviagmeyer • Get ready for  Retail’s Big Show in NYC •  Become an NRF member  and join the world’s largest retail trade association • Learn about our retail education platform, NRF Foundation, at  nrffoundation.org • Learn about retail advocacy at  nrf.com/advocacy • Find more episodes at  retailgetsreal.com Related: •  388: How Gen Z is transforming retail trends on Pinterest •  385: Lessons from a young retail leader ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/retail-gets-real-405002/episodes/398-what-gen-z-wants-insights-shaping-the-future-of-retail/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/retail-gets-real-405002/398-what-gen-z-wants-insights-shaping-the-future-of-retail.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.