Black Friday Survey: More than a Third of Teens Plan to Hit the Malls this Holiday Shopping Season

Junior Achievement Survey Shows Online and Traditional Discount Brick-and-Mortar Stores Tied as Teens' Top Choices for Shopping this Holiday Season

Traditional retailers may be getting a holiday gift from America's teenagers this shopping season. A new survey from Junior Achievement USA (JA) shows that more than a third of teens (35%) plan to make some of their holiday purchases at shopping malls this year. This, despite the ever-growing popularity of online shopping.

Additionally, a majority of teens (52%) plan to do much of their shopping at brick-and-mortar discount stores like Walmart and Target this holiday season, the same percentage (52%) said that they would be doing much of their shopping online. The survey of 1,004 teens was conducted in mid-November by the research firm Engine.

"Many young people have their first shopping experience during the holidays," said Jack E. Kosakowski, President & CEO of Junior Achievement USA. "This provides an opportunity for teens to begin learning how to work within a budget and make financially informed decisions. It also creates a moment when parents can talk to their kids about managing money as part of day-to-day conversation."

The largest percentage of teens (37%) expects to spend less than $100 on holiday gifts, while about a fifth anticipate spending between $100 and $200 (21%). Far fewer (15%) think they will spend more than $200 on gifts. About a quarter (23%) either don't know what they will spend or don't anticipate buying presents.

The top gift idea is clothing (57%), followed by gift cards (49%), video games (41%), accessories, such as hats and shoes (39%), small electronics (35%), toys (30%), jewelry (27%), music (20%), and sporting goods/apparel (16%).

Methodology

This report presents the findings of a Youth CARAVAN survey conducted by Engine among a sample of 1,004 13-17-year olds, comprising of 502 males and 402 females.  This survey was live on November 12-17, 2019. 

Respondents for this survey are selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in online surveys and polls. Because the sample is based on those who initially self-selected for participation, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated.  All sample surveys and polls may be subject to multiple sources of error, including, but not limited to sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options.

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