Shoes are offered for sale at a Nike store along the Magnificent Mile shopping district on December 21, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. Nike footwear lost four points of share among teens compared to last fall, while it lost eight points among females. Scott Olson/Getty Images via Getty Images
By Howard Ruben
Source: www.retaildive.com, October 2024

Brands like New Balance, Adidas, Birkenstock and On are continuing to gain traction with Gen Z.

Dive Brief:

  • While Nike continues to be the favorite footwear and apparel brand of teens, it did lose some ground, especially with females, as revealed by Piper Sandler’s 48th semi-annual Taking Stock with Teens survey that polled 13,500 teens nationwide, per a news release.
  • Among cosmetic brands, E.l.f. Beauty for the sixth consecutive survey was the top choice with more than one-third (35%) of female respondents favoring the brand, followed by Rare Beauty (10%), Maybelline (7%) and Charlotte Tilbury (6%).
  • The survey found Sephora was still the No. 1 beauty retail destination for teens, while second place Ulta lost five points, ceding ground to both Target and Amazon as favorite destinations to purchase beauty products.

Dive Insight:

Nike — which last month announced Elliott Hill as president and CEO — is feeling the heat of competition as it seeks to reverse its recent missteps. In footwear, it lost four points of share compared to last fall (57% versus 61%), while it lost eight points among females (48% versus 56% last year). The brand gave ground to New Balance (up four points from last year), Adidas (up two points) and Birkenstock (up one point).

On Running continues to gain momentum with teens as it rose to the No. 7 favorite footwear brand after being No. 9 in the firm’s spring survey. On is gaining share with a younger audience, which is being aided by the brand’s partnership with actor Zendaya, according to the survey. This summer’s air tennis match between Zendaya and On’s Roger Federer had over 15 million Instagram and 7 million TikTok views, per the report.

In beauty, while female consumers continue to spend the largest share of their beauty dollars on cosmetics, the fragrance category saw the biggest year-over-year gains, growing 25% from last year.

With 24% of the share, Bath & Body Works is still the favorite fragrance brand for female teens, but it lost seven points from Fall 2023 and saw its lead over second place Sol de Janeiro slip from 14 to five points. The latter held the top spot for upper-income teens.

When asked to compare shopping at Target versus Walmart, 46% of female teens said they preferred Target for apparel and footwear while 22% said their store of choice was Walmart. And 70% of these same consumers said they shopped at Target for beauty and skin care items.

Self-reported teen spending was up 6% year over year to $2,361, per the survey. That number compares to last fall when self-reported teen spending fell 1% year over year to $2,316.