Investment bank Piper Sandler Companies released the results of the Fall 2021 “Taking Stock With Teens ®” survey in partnership with DECA a few months ago, showing overall teen spending was up 6% year-over-year.
Clothing regained the top spot in wallet share for the first time since the fall of 2014, toppling food. Upper-income teen girls bought a lot of clothes this fall, up 14% year-over-year. And athletic apparel maintains its top ranking in the type of clothing they’re buying. (Surprisingly to me, teens are buying more Crocs.) Teen girls bought a lot of accessories too—sales were up 10% year-over-year. Their “self-reported” spending improved to $2,274, up 6% year-over-year.
Survey highlights:
- Snapchat and TikTok are their favorite social mediums
- Spending slightly down: video games, movies & personal care
- In the beauty category, spending is up for haircare (8%) and fragrance (14%) and down a bit for skincare and cosmetics
- They’re shopping for their beauty products primarily at Ulta (46% share) and Sephora (21% share)
- Teens are comfortable buying second-hand merchandise—with 51% having purchased second-hand goods
- Gen Z is a socially-conscious generation. Their top social/political causes: the environment, racial equality & Afghanistan
There’s more information here.
Protester photo by Diego G Diaz/Shutterstock