With July coming to an end summer will soon be in the rear-view mirror. For the nation’s youth, the sweet treats of summertime are made bitter by the appearance of three words at the local retail emporium – “back to school.”
August is prime time for back-to-school shopping. Although parents typically provide the funding for back-to-school shopping, either directly or indirectly, in this era of social media and “haul” videos, the road to sales success goes through teenage consumers. Today, kids and teens are far more product-savvy and attuned to which clothes they like and what retailers have to offer. We wondered which department stores teens prefer, and why?
Using E-Score Brand’s filtering capabilities, we looked at department store preferences among both teens and parents of children under 18. While Parents typically have high appeal ratings for many of the big department stores, teens are commonly left feeling lukewarm. Target distinguishes itself from its competitors as a favorite among teens 13-17 utilizing products focused on teens such as snowboarder Shaun White’s new clothing and shoe line.
While Target earns high appeal scores from both Teens and Parents; Teens see Target 11 points higher for Cool (24% vs. 13%) than Parents, and score Target more than double for Unique than Parents (19% vs. 8%). By appealing to both teens and their parents, has Target found the key to back-to-school success?
Target also scores well among Teens compared to its competitors. Target’s top two box appeal is 30 points higher than average among Teens. Teens also scored Target more than 20 points higher for both “I would try new products/services” and “Is a brand I identify with” than its competitors.
E-Score Brand can look at retailer’s appeal, attribute and intent to purchase scores by Teens and Parents of Teens alike. Dissecting brand appeal among Teens and Parents can reveal opportunities and deficiencies in targeting specific age groups.
Posted by E-Poll Market Research 
