Nike Is Still the No. 1 Footwear Brand Among Gen Z Teens, But It’s Losing Share Among Young Women
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
Nike might still be the No. 1 brand for all Gen Z in both apparel and footwear, but according to Piper Sandler’s 48th semi-annual “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, the company’s dominance in the demographic may be waning.
According to the majority of the over 13,500 U.S. teens across 47 states who responded to this latest survey, Nike ranks number one in top clothing brands (33 percent) and top footwear brands (57 percent) among teens this fall. But, in footwear, Nike shed 4 points year-over-year, down from 61 percent of teens choosing the brand as their top shoe pick in fall 2023.
Piper Sandler’s report also found that Nike saw a sharp drop among females (48 percent this fall versus 56 percent last fall) and the upper income cohort seeing an 11-point year-over-year decline.
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Among Nike’s competitors, New Balance moved to No. 3 this fall, up from No. 4 last fall, for upper income teens. New Balance also doubled its mindshare to 8 percent this fall.
As for female respondents, Adidas had the biggest increase, accounting for 14 percent of the vote this fall among the demo, which is up from 3 percent in fall 2023. Overall, Adidas ranked No. 2 in the top footwear brands list, with 9 percent of the vote.
For apparel, Lululemon maintained its No. 3 rank in the category for all teens with 5 percent of the mindshare, down 1-point year-over-year. For upper income teens, Lululemon lost 4 points of mindshare year-over-year. Overall, American Eagle was No. 2 in the top ranked apparel brands, with 5 percent of share.
“This fall, teens self-reported spending at $2,361, a four percent increase compared to our spring survey,” Korinne Wolfmeyer, senior research analyst at Piper Sandler, said in a statement. “Nike and e.l.f. Beauty continue to prove their wallet dominance as number one preferences in apparel and beauty.”
This news comes one week after Nike offered mixed results in its first earnings call since announcing that its CEO John Donahoe would step down and be replaced by Elliott Hill.
In addition to announcing results for the first quarter, the athletic giant said it would postpone its widely anticipated Investor Day, which was scheduled for Nov. 19, 2024. A new date has not yet been released. The company also withdrew its guidance for fiscal year 2025.
For the first quarter, Nike reported that revenues were down 10 percent to $11.59 billion over the same quarter last year, short of the $11.65 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance.
