Survey: Teen spending up 4% from spring

Teen spending is slightly up compared to the spring, but many brand preferences remain unchanged, including Nike, E.l.f. and Chick-fil-A as favorites.

That’s according to investment bank Piper Sandler Companies' 48th semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey in partnership with DECA. The survey of 13,515 teenagers, with an average age of 15.8, showed that self-reported spending was $2,361, a 4% increase compared to the bank’s spring survey.

As for preferences, many preferred brands were unchanged from the spring survey despite some slippage. Nike maintained its No. 1 spot as a favorite brand for all teens. In footwear, Nike shed four points year-over-year (57% vs. 61%), with a sharp drop among females (48% this fall vs. 56% last fall), and the upper income cohort seeing an 11-point yearly decline. 

Lululemon maintained its No. 3 rank in apparel for all teens with 5% mindshare, down one point year-over-year. For upper income teens, the brand lost four points of mindshare Y/Y. New Balance moved to No. 3 (No. 4 last fall) for upper income teens and doubled its mindshare to 8%, while for females, Adidas had the biggest increase (to 14% this fall from 3% last fall).

In the beauty category, spending reached its highest level since spring 2018 at $342 (+6%). All categories except for skincare (-4%) grew year-over-year, and fragrance is growing the fastest at +25% year-over-year.