Walmart’s Birkin bag takes over TikTok
A fake Hermès Birkin bag from Walmart has gone viral for its striking resemblance to the iconic bag, which sells for thousands of dollars.
Emily Huang, a Gen Z shopper in Boston, likes to buy camo and name-brand alternatives for herself and her friends.
While studying abroad in Shanghai last year, she went to a market and bought a friend a wallet similar to those by Gucci, Prada and Goyard, but costing $10 to $20 instead of hundreds of dollars.
“There’s a lot of good ducks these days,” Huang, 22, told USA TODAY. Her friends said, “I got a new wallet. If you don’t look closely, it’s pretty close to the real thing.”
Gen Z shoppers are price sensitive
Gen Z shoppers like Huang take pride in purchasing alternatives (often referred to as “camo”) to expensive name brands and trendy items.
In a recent study by PwC, 82% of Gen Z shoppers said they plan to purchase camouflage this holiday season.
“For Gen Z, price is their love language. They were raised in an era of rising costs and value cost transparency,” Ali Furman, PwC consumer markets industry leader, told USA TODAY.
They’re a generation that loves a good duck, Furman said.
“They will celebrate camo culture on social media as a sign of being a smart shopper. In previous generations, they might have felt a little guilty about buying camo, or even felt bad about buying camo,” she says.
Fuhrman said Gen Z shoppers like to cheat on a variety of categories, including bags, cosmetics, apparel and shoes.
Gen Z friends like buying and receiving ducks
Huang, who now works as a salesman for an event rental company, said buying camo is practical and that many Gen Zers enjoy getting what looks like expensive name brands for less.
Huang said given his limited income, he could not afford to buy the real thing and was satisfied with the quality of most of the fakes he purchased.
“A lot of the camo that I actually participate in are things that I know are going to go out of style, or trends that are moving so fast that they’re not worth the[name brand]money,” she said.
Fans also bought camo shoes from Crocs, sunglasses from Prada, and the popular on-trend love doll camo, Lafufu.
She says some of her friends buy products that are perfect for famous brands and others that are so bad that they become a joke.
“If I were to buy a present for a friend, I would either buy a really bad duck or a really good duck. There’s no choice in between,” she said. “If it’s bad, it’s just funny. If it’s really good, you and I know, but who else knows?”
Dupe gives you access to trending items
Shikha Jain, partner and head of consumer and retail at commercial strategy consulting firm Simon Kuchar, said Kamo often targets Gen Z and millennial shoppers because they often want high-quality products without breaking the bank.
“You can get the same (product) by a high-end, luxury designer at an affordable price. It’s not necessarily a pure imitation, it’s an embrace of imitation,” Jain told USA TODAY. Mr. Jain also said counterfeit products are different from counterfeits because they are made to look very close to the real thing but are not trying to fool famous brands.
Camo allows cost-conscious shoppers to “see good value and be part of the trend,” she says. As some younger shoppers become more affluent, “ideally they’ll upgrade to that designer product and high-end products,” she says.
Jain said Gen Z shoppers are value-conscious and embrace thrifting, reselling and upcycling, becoming more mainstream. They are also excited to share financial prudence, she said.
Because of economic uncertainty and inflation, “it’s an accessibility issue for younger consumers and loyalty is waning,” Jain said. “They want to show that aesthetics, quality and taste are still accessible as opposed to expensive status items that would burn a hole in their pockets.”
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her at @blinfisher on X, Facebook and Instagram and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky.. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, breaking down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here.
