They aren’t actually X-Men.
But if they’d have a superpower—it would be spending power.
Why? Because the next few years seem to be Gen X’s time to shine, as the wealth distribution slowly spills down from older generations, particularly the “silent” one.
With most online consumer data focusing on millennials and Gen Z—them being more digital-savvy—there’s been a significant lack of data on how the Xers behave online.
So we’ve decided to dig a bit deeper and hopefully get some new, actionable insights.
🖱️📈 Clicking on each individual chart will take you to its interactive board.
The Gen X role in wealth distribution
👨👩 Who are Gen Xers really?
You don’t hear about them that often. But according to most sources, Gen X are people born between mid-60s and late 70s, which means their current age spans from 44 to around 59. They are preceded by baby boomers and followed by millennials.
For the most part of the 21st century, the silent generation and baby boomers held the most wealth distribution share, which makes sense.
Gen X was finding their financial feet, while most millennials were still in high school or college discovering MySpace and indie rock. Yes, that was a bit oddly specific, we know.
However, sometime after 2018, things have started to shift:
This graph shows it. Do you see how the Silent Generation and Gen X’s line crossed their paths? That’s essentially Gen X “taking over” the wealth distribution.
And in the next couple of years, you can expect the line to rise even more.
🫴💰The total amount of wealth passed from older generations to Gen X might be more than $50T in the next few decades, estimates say.
Gen X social media behavior?
A Wavemaker report from late 2023 found that almost all Gen Xers use social media.
Not only that, but 28% of TikTok users are actually Gen X, yet only 5% of brands spend on influencer campaigns that cater to them.
Reports like these confirm that marketers often overlook Gen X when creating campaigns.
Despite that, you probably often see a Gen X family member scrolling through Facebook, for example. So why not target them specifically?
Take a look at this chart:
Yes, it’s back-to-school specific, but we can use it as a reference for any other event, holiday, or everyday social media usage. What do you notice?
Gen X loves promotions, coupons, and discounts. Much more than the younger generation.
Here’s another good indicator of what appeals to Gen X:
So Gen X are definitely the biggest bargain hunters and prices play a huge role in their decisions.
In second place it’s reviews and ratings from peers, so take that into consideration. If you’re running social ads you should:
- Make demographic-specific campaigns that target Gen X.
- Emphasize promotions and cut-price offers.
- Showcase UGC or influencer content from other Gen X members to boost trustworthiness.
🗞️Further reading: You can combine insights from this story with our story on Gen Z to get a better outlook on different generations’ shopping habits.
How and why Gen X communicate with brands online?
Xers are tough nuts to crack.
Often, they’ll require multiple touch points to make a decision—and they don’t hesitate to ask questions.
This means you’ll need to bring the A-game to the communication department.
Here’s what we’re talking about:
As you see, Gen X is always ready to ask an additional question or two.
You can mitigate this by offering FAQs or having information-rich landing pages designated for Gen X only. Invest in good customer service or chatbots that can clear any dilemma.
Another interesting point is that half of Xers contacting brands to get rewards and discounts.
Now let’s see how they might contact you:
It looks like email is the way to go, followed by website chat.
This backs up the theory that you might want to add a website chat service.
But even more importantly, make sure to set up a good email marketing strategy for Gen X, since that’s the channel they seem to be most comfortable with.
Where does Gen X Shop?
It’s a broad question.
But let’s look at what is the percentage of Xers who use shopping apps:
Amazon is the most frequently used app when it comes to online shopping.
Walmart, eBay, and Temu all hold more or less the same share.
Listing your product on any of these platforms’ marketplaces might be a good idea if you want to sell to Gen X. Especially considering this:
This chart shows where the Gen X leaves the most money—both in person and online. And it’s Walmart.
The retailer giant appears to be the Xers favorite, so make sure you capitalize on it. Plus, considering that Walmart has its own advertising marketplace, you might want to test it out.
Which industries are growing in popularity among Gen X?
Gen Xers are becoming wealthier, but they aren’t getting younger.
So naturally, the fastest-growing departments are mostly about self-care and self-preservation:
Performance nutrition, security, and beauty and skincare industries are all growing fast. Besides those, there’s security equipment but also a bit of hedonism in travel and audio.
So if you’re in some of the above industries, make sure you apply the things we’ve mentioned in this story to appeal to Gen X.
They will gladly give you money.
Solving the X problem
The tides of wealth distributions are turning.
And Gen X—often overlooked in online consumer data—emerges as a dominant force in spending and demands more attention.
Getting these bargain hunters to shop might not be the easiest mission, but if you do—you’re opening the gates to soon-to-be the richest generation in the world.
Not too shabby.
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