Billy Florence - American Kids Spending Billions
U.S. Kids Spent $18 Billion Last Year
A telemarketer phones a home and says, ”I’d like to talk to the person who makes the final purchasing decisions for your family.” The women replies, “I’m sorry, that person is still in kindergarten and won’t be home for another hour.” The amusing story is closer to reality than some might think. American kids spent over $18 billion last year and influenced many times that amount both in stores and online.
While kids were spending $18 billion, parents spent nearly triple that amount, $58 billion, just to feed them. Parents spent more than $115 billion in other key product areas, such as food, clothing, personal-care items, entertainment, and educational reading materials. Forecasts say preschoolers aged 3 to 5, younger kids aged 6 to 8, and tweens ages 9 to 11 (a consumer group that’s nearly 36 million kids strong) are expected to represent $21.4 billion in disposable income by 2010.
Internet Shopping: Kids and tweens make up a tiny piece on the online spending pie, but that direct influence begins to expand at about age 14. Harris Interactive reports that age 14 is the threshold for online buying. The main reason shopping is not happening sooner is a basic one; parents forbid it. Even at ages 8-12, youthful consumers are spending more than three times the amount of their actual online purchases after researching the item online.
The shopping experience as a social experience can be clearly seen at ages 16-17, when we see the online spending actually dip slightly. While the average 14-year-old is spending $424 dollars on Internet shopping, the average 16-year old is spending down to $321 dollars. The 16-17 age group sees the mall as a social activity to be enjoyed with friends as much or more than a shopping event. Young drivers newly armed with licenses head out to the favorite shopping and gathering area.
Generally, the trend reverses itself at age 18 when the convenience and speed of shopping alone online replaces the social need met by shopping with friends.
Just like adults, the single most popular Internet-based teen activity is sending or reading email, with 92 percent of teens ages 12-17 participating. Pew Internet & American Life Project had similar findings to several other organizations in the area of frequency and popularity of teen online research impacting product and service purchases. Over two-thirds of youth ages 12-17 report “researching a product or service before buying it.” More than one in three has made an online purchase.
Parents’ key area of concern with their children and teens’ online activities is safety. Shopping without real web security savvy can lead to financial and other private information becoming prey for scams and other unscrupulous Internet dwellers.
© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.
A telemarketer phones a home and says, ”I’d like to talk to the person who makes the final purchasing decisions for your family.” The women replies, “I’m sorry, that person is still in kindergarten and won’t be home for another hour.” The amusing story is closer to reality than some might think. American kids spent over $18 billion last year and influenced many times that amount both in stores and online.
While kids were spending $18 billion, parents spent nearly triple that amount, $58 billion, just to feed them. Parents spent more than $115 billion in other key product areas, such as food, clothing, personal-care items, entertainment, and educational reading materials. Forecasts say preschoolers aged 3 to 5, younger kids aged 6 to 8, and tweens ages 9 to 11 (a consumer group that’s nearly 36 million kids strong) are expected to represent $21.4 billion in disposable income by 2010.
Internet Shopping: Kids and tweens make up a tiny piece on the online spending pie, but that direct influence begins to expand at about age 14. Harris Interactive reports that age 14 is the threshold for online buying. The main reason shopping is not happening sooner is a basic one; parents forbid it. Even at ages 8-12, youthful consumers are spending more than three times the amount of their actual online purchases after researching the item online.
The shopping experience as a social experience can be clearly seen at ages 16-17, when we see the online spending actually dip slightly. While the average 14-year-old is spending $424 dollars on Internet shopping, the average 16-year old is spending down to $321 dollars. The 16-17 age group sees the mall as a social activity to be enjoyed with friends as much or more than a shopping event. Young drivers newly armed with licenses head out to the favorite shopping and gathering area.
Generally, the trend reverses itself at age 18 when the convenience and speed of shopping alone online replaces the social need met by shopping with friends.
Just like adults, the single most popular Internet-based teen activity is sending or reading email, with 92 percent of teens ages 12-17 participating. Pew Internet & American Life Project had similar findings to several other organizations in the area of frequency and popularity of teen online research impacting product and service purchases. Over two-thirds of youth ages 12-17 report “researching a product or service before buying it.” More than one in three has made an online purchase.
Parents’ key area of concern with their children and teens’ online activities is safety. Shopping without real web security savvy can lead to financial and other private information becoming prey for scams and other unscrupulous Internet dwellers.
© 2007 Florence News reprint permission to Billy Florence Team Dream Chasers site.