Monthly Archives: September 2014

How Teens Shop

teenshopAmong some of our youngest consumers, today’s 13-17 year olds have some shopping attitudes and habits that may or may not surprise you. Somebody did a recent study of 1000 13-24 year olds. I am splitting off the youngsters because I think it’s interesting to see what their preferences are while their parents still have some influence over them. See if any of these findings surprise you…

Teens age 13-17:

  •  46% say that shopping is their favorite activity
  • Prefer the mall to online shopping (the group that feels most strongly about this)
  • Make 71% of their monthly purchases at the mall
  • Their purchase decisions are most influenced by friends, four times more than by social media.
  • They less brand-obsessed and more price-sensitive
  • See “personalization” as an important feature in the things they buy
  • They don’t want to shop online (can you DO that at age 15?) But they do like receiving coupons and promotions on their phones, particularly by email.

What I take from this is that, first, they get to be somewhere without mom and dad for the first time (someplace FUN, as opposed to SCHOOL.) That place is the mall, and they want to hang out there. Second, all income is coming from the parental units, so they want make it last.

Reminds me of the time I gave my 14-year-old niece 20 bucks for some clothes, and said I would take her anywhere she wanted. I assumed she would choose the Super Rad Teenz store (that’s a place, right?) Instead, it was Kohl’s 70% clearance rack, where she got THREE shirts. I was impressed!

There are more stats and depth at the original piece. So, what do you think? Do any of these habits surprise you? Do they sound like YOUR teen? Let us know over at the MindField Live Facebook page!

More on Data Security

ID-100288994You can be forgiven if you read that title as “moron data security,” given recent events. Anyhoo…

You know the old UPS slogan, “What can Brown do for you?” I would answer, “How about protecting my data!?”

Yep, the UPS Store is one of the latest businesses to be data-hacked (by data-hackers!) 51 stores in 24 states, apparently. You can check out the locations at the UPS site.

And just a few days ago, it was Jimmy John’s sandwich shops. I actually went there a while back. Thankfully, I used cash. You can read all about it on their site, as well.

So, that’s UPS, Michael’s, Target, PF Chang’s, Goodwill, the entire  South Carolina Social Security system…the list goes on and on.

Two weeks ago, they had the “Biggest Hack in History,” in which Russian hackers stole over ONE BILLION user names and passwords. People downplayed it, saying that Usernames and PWs are not as bad as credit card information.

BUT… the problem is that we are lazy. We tend to use the same Usernames and PWs across many accounts. So, as soon as the hacker punks crack your Bi-Lo Savers Club account, it’s a short walk to hacking your Discover Card.

So, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS. Today. Don’t use the same User and PW for every account. While you’re at it maybe look at fraud protection. Soon, it’s going to be as necessary as homeowners insurance.

And, for more info on protecting your data, visit the Federal Trade Commission site, or check out this review site for data protection services. And have a great weekend!

PS… remember when we were all supposedly marching toward a “cashless society” where it would be all plastic, all the time? THIS is the reason that will never happen – not for me anyway!