The surprising places where Gen Zs look for love
Despite the world being more connected than ever, it seems no easier for the digital generation to find love.
KARIN CHAN30 Jan 2025 02:00pm
Nearly 47 per cent of Gen Z daters said they would like to meet a romantic partner while shopping for groceries. Photo: Generated by AI
The pushback isn't surprising. If you’ve been on a dating app, you're likely encountered unsavoury behaviours such as ghosting, catfishing, unsolicited explicit messages, and 'foodie calls'. It’s tiring and discouraging to be 'always on' and sift endlessly through the dross for the diamonds, all while being told by the apps that love is just a click away.
To corroborate this sentiment, 79 per cent of Gen Z respondents to a Forbes Health study described themselves as 'exhausted' from online dating. But if dating apps aren’t effective at playing Cupid any longer, then where is Gen Z choosing to find love?
THE SUPERMARKET
In Australia, nearly 47 per cent of Gen Z daters told a recent study that they would like to meet a romantic partner while shopping for their groceries.
This could be due to a few factors, such as the supermarket being a more casual setting and an indicator of proximity (the person likely lives or works nearby), as well as providing a peek into their lifestyle via their grocery choices.
It also doesn’t hurt that supermarkets provide more organic opportunities to start a conversation with a stranger, like asking for advice on how to choose the right fruit or help to grabbing something from a high shelf.
Over in Spain, young Spaniards are flocking to Mercadona, a popular local supermarket chain, to try their luck at finding romance in the aisles.
There are even rules of participation for the ‘game’. For instance, hopefuls must arrive between 7-8pm and can indicate what they’re looking for by placing specific items in their cart: upside-down pineapples (open to chat), confectionery (a casual fling) and legumes and vegetables (a long-term relationship).
RUNNING CLUBS
With interest in running now at an all time high, it’s only natural that some Gen Zs are finding more romantic success via running clubs.
Running clubs are typically welcoming to all levels of fitness, free to join, and ubiquitous worldwide. A 'conversational pace' is the norm, where participants can pair (or group) up and chat comfortably while advancing towards a shared destination together.
Gen Zs find running clubs "super low-pressure but effective" in getting to know other people, especially when compared to traditional approaches like walking up to someone at a bar or even sliding into someone’s DMs.
Even Tinder has caught on to the trend. In mid-2024, Tinder partnered with personalised coaching app Runna to organise the Solemates Run Club series — three free 5km run clubs around London. Reception was positive, with multiple rounds of ticket sales launched for each edition and many inquiries for the next round.
VOLUNTEERING
A recent DoSomething survey found that while community impact was the primary driver for volunteering among Gen Z and Gen Alpha (93 per cent), making friends and connections was a close second (85 per cent).
Volunteering provides many points of connection and a conducive environment for connections — and maybe love — to blossom. You’re working together for a cause you both believe in, will see each other regularly, have a common topic to talk about, belong to a shared community, and are feeling good about doing good. What’s not to like?
Consistency seems to be the key. While over 75 per cent of both regular and non-regular volunteers said that finding a sense of community and belonging through volunteering was important to them, the regulars were twice as successful than non-regulars in building bonds with others through their volunteering experiences.
Nonprofits themselves are realising and leveraging volunteering’s potential for connection to encourage Gen Zs to volunteer. Organisations such as LIFT in the US and City of Good in Singapore have noted how "finding romantic partners" is just one of the many advantages that volunteering offers.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND
This certainly isn’t to say that dating apps don’t have a place in the Gen Z dating world. Despite the overall dim view that Gen Z has of them now, they have still been responsible for many success stories and happily-ever-afters.
The key is to remember that ultimately, there is no secret formula for finding love. Romance is never guaranteed, no matter what you do. All you can do is put yourself out there and create more opportunities for sparks to fly — regardless of whether that’s being active on dating apps, going out and meeting people, or a combination of both.
Curious to find out your own approach to romance? Take our quiz to test your own dating energy. Click here to find out!
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