• by Sarah Mahoney , April 11, 2018

Piper Jaffrey’s new report on teen shopping is out, and while spending is up nicely, the big winners are food and beauty, while apparel continues to lose its appeal. Nike still reigns as the top brand in both clothing and footwear in the semi-annual survey, but its mindshare is declining, while Adidas rose to a new high. And streetwear, led by brands like Vans and Supreme, is coming on strong.

Overall, Piper Jaffrey reports that teen spending, with an impact of $830 billion, is up 6% from last fall’s report, and 2% from a year ago.

Chick-fil-A and Starbucks are the most popular food brands.

Author Erinn Murphy says the increase likely mirrors economic expansion. “We are seeing strong signs of a brand cycle led by 1990s and streetwear styles with Adidas, Vans, Supreme and Tommy Hilfiger as the most notable positive brand movers,” she writes.

There was plenty of bad news for brands and channels, too. Department stores continue to lose share, entering teens’ minds for 38% of shopping occasions, down from 41% last year. And classics are fading. Ralph Lauren, for instance, dropped out of the top-10 brands for boys, where it had been since 2002. 

Food is back, reaccelerating to 24%, its peak, and the No. 1 spending category. For boys, video games also rose to peak levels, at 13%. And for girls, beauty spending hit a new high of $368, an 18% jump over prior years.

Apple seems to be regaining some of its former glow, with 84% of Gen Z saying they intend to buy an iPhone next, up from 82%.

In social media, teens continue to name Snapchat (45%) and Instagram (26%) as favorites, followed by Twitter, at 9%. But Facebook, preferred by 8%, is stabilizing.

This is the 35^th semi-annual survey from the Minneapolis-based financial company, which tracks discretionary spending and brand preferences from 6,000 teens in 40 states. The average age of respondents is 16.4, and their families have an average household income of $66,300.