More than 3 in 4 teens shop online, reports Piper Jaffray in new survey results [pdf], but they prefer to shop in-store. Asked to indicate their preference, 78% of female teens responding to the survey indicated that they prefer to shop in-store, while only 17% prefer shopping online. Male respondents followed a similar pattern, with 75% choosing in-store shopping, compared to 19% saying they prefer shopping online. Last year, survey results from Ipsos indicated that 6 in 10 Americans prefer shopping in-store, but that younger generations showed a greater inclination than other generations to prefer shopping online.
The Piper Jaffray study also reveals the top categories by share of teen spending. They include:
- Clothing (21%);
- Food (18%);
- Accessories/personal care (10%);
- Shoes (9%);
- Car (8%);
- Electronics (8%);
- Music and movies (7%);
- Video games (6%); and
- Concerts and events (6%);
In other results from the survey, 70% of female teens and 55% of males say they shop at off-price stores, although fewer (55% female; 42% male) say that it is popular to shop at an off-price store. Also, more female respondents disagree than agree that they prefer to shop at an off-price store versus a traditional department store (52% vs. 41%), with males even more unambiguous in that preference (60% disagreeing vs. 32% agreeing).
When they are shopping online, Amazon is easily the favorite site, at 23% of respondents, up from 13% in the Spring 2012 survey. The next most popular shopping site, eBay, is favorite to only 5% of respondents, down from 7% last year.
About the Data: The Piper Jaffray data is based on two unique surveys:
1) Upper-income student survey
- Classroom visit & electronic surveys of 1,600 teens; average age of 16.1;
- Household (HH) income of more than $84k, representing the top 25% of US households;
- Average HH of $104k.
2) Average-income study survey
- Classroom visit & electronic surveys of 3,600 teens; average age 16.5 years;
- HH income of less than $84k aligns more closely with the US median;
- Average HH income of $54k.