[NRF 2026 Insights #03] Welcoming youth as "co-creators" rather than "buyers"

Introduction

This article is presented as a unique insight from BEEATS, based on a report contributed to the fashion business media "Oui Speak Fashion® Japan" and incorporating perspectives from our overseas observation team, including President and CEO Mitsuhiro Kashiwagi and Executive Officer Kanta Nishimura.

In our previous article (#02: Gen Z doesn't throw away "physical stores". Value of "final verification" that digital natives seek in reality), we unraveled the insight that "the physical store is a place for answer checking" from the honest opinions of university students.

In this article, based on the case of the California-based youth fashion select shop "Pacsun", we examine how to build relationships with next-generation consumers from the perspective of real sales floor creation.

"Return to physical" and community consciousness seen in the digital generation

In the large-scale "Pacsun Youth Report" (covering 6,000 people) conducted by Pacsun in partnership with GlobalData, the "differences" between Gen Z and Gen Alpha—who should not be lumped together—as well as interesting insights common to both generations, were revealed.

• Decisive differences between generations

First, when considering approaches to them, it is necessary to understand the unique characteristics held by each generation.

Target	Insights to watch	Features/Background
Gen Z	The subject of decision-making is "myself"	32% responded that "themselves" are the greatest source of influence in purchasing decisions. They tend to establish their own values and act accordingly.
Generation Alpha	Not digital but "AI native"	They have grown up in constant change and their thinking is flexible. They tend to have low loyalty to traditional brands and are susceptible to external influence.

• Common insights across generations

On the other hand, there are commonalities between both generations.

Insights to watch	Features/Background
Online consumption and value orientation	57% of young people spend over 40% of their clothing budget online, and 56% are always looking for the best deal. Digital is the main battlefield, and economic rationality is also valued.
Return to physical	While online consumption is becoming routine, both generations have returned to shopping malls in the past two years in search of experiences. They expect brands to have a presence where online and offline are seamlessly connected.
Emphasis on mental health	For young people, mental health is viewed as a higher priority than physical health or academic performance. Pacsun views this not as a mere sign of anxiety, but positively as "heightened self-awareness," and shows a stance of supporting them as a brand.

Here, what we want to focus on is the point that, despite online consumption becoming a daily occurrence, the younger generation is finding value in physical spaces as well.

OSF's article suggests that this return to the physical may also be connected to movements seeking real community and connection within an excessively digitized world.

Real-world spaces are no longer just places for viewing or buying products. Aren't they being re-evaluated for their value as places to feel a brand's stance and culture, and to engage in relationships and experiences that are hard to get online?

"Community Hub" for growing value together with creators

One answer Pacsun has provided to these insights is the "Community Hub." In the article, the Community Hub is introduced not as a mere app, but as a co-creation platform that welcomes creators as brand partners.

What Pacsun emphasizes is an attitude of viewing creators not just as distribution channels, but as entities that co-create value. Regardless of the number of followers, they welcome various creators, and provide participants with affiliate compensation, content ownership, opportunities to collaborate with the Pacsun team, and the potential for future joint product development.

Furthermore, the article introduces the "Youth Advisory Council," where 13- to 24-year-olds directly convey their opinions to management's decision-making. While this is a separate initiative from the Community Hub, the stance of treating young people not just as consumers but as beings involved in the brand's future is common.

From a one-way relationship where "companies sell things" to a relationship where brands, customers, and creators grow value together.

Pacsun's initiatives can be seen as a case of rethinking the very way of engaging with next-generation consumers.

BEEATS VIEW: Thinking about future store experiences from Pacsun's philosophy

Pacsun's "co-creation" stance and the redefinition of relationships with creators and young people offer implications for considering experience design in physical sales floors. While "Community Hub" is not an example of the store space itself, the perspective of treating the younger generation not merely as "buyers" but as beings who engage with the brand and grow value together is an idea that can be applied to Japanese store spaces and sales floor creation.

We believe the following perspectives are important when applying this concept to sales floor creation.

• A sense of conviction discovered for oneself, not imposed

Gen Z who wants to decide based on their own values, and Gen Alpha who have digital in their daily lives. For sales floors welcoming such people, design that allows them to face products and brands at their own pace becomes more important than aggressive solicitations.

Being able to naturally encounter, compare, and choose necessary information with conviction.
It is important that technology also functions naturally as the background supporting the experience, rather than something placed in the foreground.

Visitors can deepen their connection with the brand of their own volition. Isn't such sales floor design with margin exactly what is required for future store experiences?

• Room for participation that makes people want to get involved

What is noteworthy in the Pacsun case is that they welcome young people and creators as beings who co-create brand value. This perspective is also useful when creating real-world sales floors.

For example, mechanisms that make visitors want to take photos and post them, design that allows participation in the brand's world view through events and workshops, and space creation where touchpoints with staff and creators are born. A store is a place to line up products, and at the same time, it is a place where relationships with the brand are born.

Rather than just showing a one-sided, completed world view, how do you create room for visitors to join in part of it? That perspective is considered important in increasing engagement with the younger generation.

• A space for co-creation, grown together with customers

Welcoming young people not merely as "buyers" but as partners who create the brand's future together.

If we broaden this way of thinking to sales floor creation, perhaps a store doesn't need to be 100% complete from the very beginning.

Flexibility to change shape into a place for events and community according to the passion and culture of the people gathering, without fixing the usage. Design where the brand experience itself grows little by little due to the voices and actions of visitors.

This perspective of "growing together" is considered one of the most important elements for future stores.

Creating Brand Experiences Together

Just bringing overseas cases to Japan as they are will not easily reach customers' hearts. It is important to match the sensibilities of Japanese youth and the domestic store environment, and how to weave "comfortable empathy" into the space.

BEEATS will shape the latest retail trends obtained from this visit to fit the Japanese market and support the creation of new brand experience spaces.

If you have challenges in next-generation store creation—such as wanting to build a store that cultivates brand-customer relationships, designing spatial experiences that reach younger generations, or working on community building that leverages real-world spaces—please feel free to consult with us.

NRF2026 Report Now Available: "The Dawn of Agent Commerce"

We have released a digest report of "NRF 2026." Please download and use this 29-page report, which includes detailed explanations of the main sessions and solution analyses of 12 featured companies.※ Materials are available in Japanese only.

About this Joint Overseas Report Editorial Project

The original report forming the basis of this series is a joint editorial project between BEEATS CO., LTD. and World Mode Holdings Co., Ltd.

Detailed reports covering the event in New York by our President and CEO Mitsuhiro Kashiwagi and Executive Officer Kanta Nishimura are being published sequentially on the fashion business media "Oui Speak Fashion® Japan." Along with this insight, please be sure to read the main report, which is packed with both companies' perspectives.

Original article
Part 3: Future of capturing Gen Z and Gen Alpha — Reading the new retail era from Pacsun's strategy

For more details on this joint editorial project, please see the following page.

Oui Speak Fashion® Japanhttps://ouispeakfashion.com/jp/