How Teens Shop: In-depth insight into teen shopping trends from the Washington Post
Today’s Washington Post has a very detailed, in-depth look into teen shopping habits that, I’m guessing, is going to make the rounds at corporate offices of mall retailers today:
Sixty-one teenagers from across the Washington region descended upon Tysons Corner on a recent Saturday. And we were there to capture it all.
We wanted to learn how today’s teens make their purchasing decisions, how they calculate value and how they figure out what’s cool. These teenage volunteers, all between seventh and 11th grade, brought their own money, friends and sense of style. Some came with their parents; some with their parents’ credit card. But all of them brought strong opinions about what they like — and what they don’t.
More than a dozen Washington Post and washingtonpost.com staff members documented the shopping expedition through stories, photographs, audio and video. We gained insight into teen consumer psychology and the latest trends, but we also learned a lot about the teenagers themselves.
With 10 associated articles, photos, video, and an interactive map detailing how many people visited different stores and how much money was spent, this is a rather fascinating read. Detailed, detailed, detailed. Only click on this link if you have time to kill, because it will suck you in with the amount of information available: Tracking Teen Shopping Habits.
I’m not going to be able to sumarize everything that the Washington Post has in that article, but there are a few points that jumped out at me that I’d like to share:
Collectively, the teens spent the most money at Hollister ($498) with Urban Outfitters a distant second ($319). $288 was spent at American Eagle while $198 was spent at Abercrombie & Fitch. Old Navy ranked up there, with over $160 being spent by these teenagers. Non-existant in this group was PacSun, with 10 visits and no money being spent.
These teenagers are smart. One article centers around their price conciousness (When Mom’s Not Paying, Cost Is a Deal-Breaker) and one article is about their shopping strategies (On a Mission to Buy, With a Plan of Attack). These teenagers came equipped with plans, checking out fashion and getting information from the retailer’s websites prior to stepping foot in the mail.
Where’d denim go? These kids aren’t shopping for jeans, apparently.
Teenagers aren’t just shopping at specialty retailers. This group is also looking at Macy’s, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Lord and Taylor to find the best deals.
The work put in to this report from the Washington Post is incredible. Like I’ve already said, this is a really fantastic read with a ton of information.
