Athletic brands continue to increase their share of what U.S. teenagers' spend on apparel, according to new research from the investment bank Piper Jaffray.
Piper Jaffray's 31st semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens research survey found that fashion athletic brands increased their share of teenage girls spending this spring to 17 percent. On average teen girls spend twice as much on apparel as their male counterparts.
Nike remained the most popular athletic fashion brand in both apparel and footwear, despite mixed results among men. Adidas was a positive standout in the athletic footwear and clothing category.
While U.S. teens spent less overall than a year ago, the survey found they spent 38 percent of their money on clothing, accessories and footwear compared with 36 percent a year ago.
“While total spending among the teen demographic appears to be down versus last year, we are encouraged that overall teen employment appears to be on the rise; 39 percent of teens indicate they hold a part-time job, which is up 400 basis points over last year’s levels. As they take more control over their discretionary spending, we believe it is critically important to watch for category shifts and brand preferences,” said Neely Tamminga, Piper Jaffray senior research analyst.
Other key findings from the survey include:
Denim brands saw an uptick to 14% aggregated mindshare and showed up as a top trend among upper-income females for the first time since fall 2013.Amazon Prime adoption has increased across all income brackets in each of the past five surveys with this survey indicating Amazon Prime exists in 51% of households of the teens in our survey. This survey, along with other previous Piper Jaffray consumer surveys, suggests that there are 57-61 million Prime households in the U.S.The only two categories that exceed male teen spending on video games (13%) are food (20%) and clothing (15%). Video game spending among males is at an all-time high for our survey.The survey highlights spending trends and brand preferences among 6,500 U.S. teens across 46 U.S. states. Piper Jaffray has surveyed more than 130,000 teens and collected more than 35 million data points on teen spending in fashion, beauty and personal care, digital media, food, gaming and entertainment since launching the project in 2001.
Piper Jaffray & Co. does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports.
