Online teens prefer brick-and-mortar retailers

Teens may love to surf the Net, but when it comes to clothing, they head to traditional department or other brick-and-mortar stores, according to a national survey of 1,000 13- to 19-year olds. This loyalty to physical stores is especially interesting because the survey was conducted on the Internet. Greenfield Online teamed up with Target Management, both of Wilton, Conn., to field research about the sports participation and sports-related behaviors of teens, as well as their brand preferences and buying behaviors in regards to footwear, clothing, and equipment. The survey found teens shop most often for activewear and athletic apparel at the following:

Department stores 38%
Specialty stores 14%
Full-line sporting goods stores 14%
Discount stores 12%
Athletic footwear stores 7%
Catalogs 3%
Online sites 2%

The survey was conducted over the Internet between Dec. 7, 2000 and Jan. 2, 2001 among teens drawn from Greenfield Online`s research panel. The findings were weighted to represent the U.S. census in terms of gender.